


Sparks of Light, Drops of Pain

by Azhwi, LosttotheHoping



Series: Bloody Woman [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Drabble dump, Drabbles, Multi, Random Crossovers, may or may not be canon, occasionally morbid, plunnies, weep for the plunnies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 19:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 27,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3989338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azhwi/pseuds/Azhwi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LosttotheHoping/pseuds/LosttotheHoping
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles for the Bloody Woman verse. Both canon and not. Complete thoughts, discarded plunnies, everything to be taken with a grain of salt.<br/>Drabbles by Lost, by me, and by both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling Further

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LosttotheHoping](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LosttotheHoping/gifts).



> Each chapter is an idea. Some will be updated and lengthened if we ever come back to the poor plunny.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arana's denied wish to see her sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

Her eyes were closed, the wind whipping her hair about her face and head. It was terrifying, and beautiful. Her gut clenched, and her fingers uncurled from the bars of the balcony. She barely felt the rush of air, cool on her tear-stained cheeks. Didn’t open her eyes to watch the world rush up to grab her.

Her heart ached. Her sister was a corpse in the ground, her nephew dead before he’d even been born. Charles, Lucy’s husband, had named the boy Alexander James Carpenter.

_“I don’t understand what happened. I don’t understand, Elizabeth... How did Lucy get so sick? How?” Pale fingers clutched her shoulders, digging in through the fabric of her dress. “I don’t understand...” Dark eyes overflowed, spilling anguished tears down his cheeks._

_She hadn’t been able to answer._

It was all her fault. And now Lucy was dead. And the ground caught her.

It was the day she learned that she could never follow in her sister’s footsteps.


	2. Unspoken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Svorak losing his eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another drabble by Lost.

It was something that went unsaid between the three of them. A statement, maybe. A feeling, an emotion. A truth. An unspoken caring, a bond that kept them together.

Her fingers folded over a pale hand, her eyes trained on a dark sleeping, newly mangled face. She would give them her company, while her lover slept in another room. She would be _here_ for them. Her Boys. Her children that were not her children.

And the truth would hang heavy and unspoken, because it was the truth, and the truth was always the hardest said. Especially when it was the scariest feeling, the most heartbreaking of emotions.

And still, now, before and ever more, Arana would give her Boys her love.


	3. Fan Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai has a fanclub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

Kai stifled a yawn as he meandered down the street. No point in driving to the store, since there was a Wal-Mart literally five blocks away from his gym. It was a nice day, though, so the walk wasn’t horrible. The sun was out. There was a pleasant breeze. School was still in session so there were no kids making a nuisance of themselves...

The only problem was that he was being followed. There might be giggling involved, but that sounded like some sort of car repeatedly crashing against a pole.

Hm. That was a bad description. The car was not crashing against a pole. It was running over a cat. Repeatedly.

Sighing, he stopped and turned his head, but like the last eight times... nothing. Yes, he was keeping count. He frowned.

This had happened ever since he’d volunteered to help Syd with the cafe last week, and Chang had come in. Bugging them. About Ruby. Long story short, he started to make Sydney uncomfortable, Kai got pissed... and hypnotized him into obeying the witch’s every word. Like a doll. A Chang-shaped doll.

There was the flash of a camera, leaving dots in Kai’s eyes, and he blinked. “What?”

“Can I have your autograph?”

Kai finally managed to see past the blinking lights in his eyes, and stared. At Chang’s bodyguards. Plural.

“Oh dear.”


	4. Poker Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Playing card games with Arana is a bad idea. At least, if you're naive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

Shinji walks to center stage, where there is a large white board.  He picks up a marker, and scrawls something in kanji.  Then, beneath it, he writes, “ _Bloody Woman Omake Theatre_ ” and “ _Poker Night_ ”

 

~.~.~.~

 

Arana was not, is not and would never be allowed to play with the guys during Poker Night.  They made the mistake once, and they would never, ever, ever do so again.

 

Black witches - male, female or hermaphrodite - cheat.  Extensively.  Or exclusively, in the Lady’s case.

 

It was a night not long after the Boys convinced her to stay.  The rain was falling outside harder than it seemed possible.  Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and Medic suggested Poker.

 

Since no one had anywhere to be (and it was raining like someone upstairs forgot to turn off the faucet), they all agreed.  Poker?  Good idea.  So they got together, broke out chips and alcohol (and chocolate), and Medic dealt the first hand.

 

Arana won.  They all shrugged ( _Beginner’s luck_ , Svorak figured; _Lady’s luck_ , Christoph thought; _Goddammit_ , Medic mentally grumbled) and the next hand was dealt.

 

Arana won.   _Very good beginner’s luck_ , Svorak amended hopefully.  Christoph just resolved to watch the woman.  And Medic...  “Fuck.”

 

The next hand was dealt- “Okay, how the hell’re you doing it!?” Medic burst out.  Arana had won again.

 

The brunette blinked at him innocently.  “Doing it?  Doing what, kiddo?” she asked.  She was actually thinking about breaking out a cigarette for the next game; just because it amused her.

 

“The winning!  And- and the winning!   _Every round_!” he blustered.

 

“Sit.”

 

“Errrgg...”  The man sat down, glowering at her.  She just broke out a cigarette, and the game continued.

 

Next three rounds, Arana lost.  Then she won again.  And again.  And- “Alright, I saw that, Lady, and _that_ is cheating!” Svorak snapped.   **Mystics**.

 

“Erm...”  Christoph blinked at his cards.  Hadn’t he just been holding three Aces?  He frowned at the Lady of the group, and looked at Svorak.  “What is she doing?”

 

“She’s cheating!” Medic announced, almost victoriously.

 

Arana yawned, putting out her cigarette.  “Yep.”

 

They were all dumbfounded into silence.  She wasn’t going to deny it?  Wasn’t that what usually happened...?  “That’s it?” Svorak asked after a beat.

 

“Yes.”  She smiled, picked up her newly won money and left to buy a new carton of cigarettes.

 

They just gaped after her, for three... two... one-

  
“Hey!  That’s my money!” Medic yelled, and ran after her.


	5. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The birth of Kai's little sister, Tsuki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

Kai paced anxiously back and forth in the waiting room.  His hands rubbed against each other, fingers aching from the repetitive movement, but he couldn’t stop.  He was so worried.  Mother had been in there for so long....

 

His gaze slid to the side as he passed by the silent man sitting in a chair.  The man didn’t look at him.  He didn’t even really appear to know why they were here.  _Baka ningen_ , Kai grumbled mentally.

 

As if hearing his thoughts, Sosuke Watanari looked up.  “Kai, sit down,” he mumbled.  “Emiko will be done soon.”

 

They hadn’t even let Sosuke in, but Kai didn’t blame them.  None of them had expected this complication.

 

Kai continued to pace.  _Okaasan..._   His beloved mother.  Pregnant for eight and a half months, currently giving birth to Kai’s new baby sister.  The twelve year old was more nervous than any of them, too.  He’d wanted to try the protection spell, but Mother had said no.  It would only upset his father.

 

The young witch-in-training scoffed.  Upset his father.  His pathetic, normal father, who had only recently found out about the family gifts.  Who had been furious and shoved the pregnant Emiko down the stairs.

 

The rage festered.  Kai hated him, Sosuke.  _Hated_.  He’d never felt so much anger directed toward a single person before.  A possessiveness had risen when his mother hadn’t gotten up, something that Kai had never displayed before.

 

“ _Don’t just stand there, aho!  Call 911!_ ”

 

And then the frantic ride to the hospital (Kai had ridden with Emiko; Sosuke drove afterward).

 

 _Step, step, step, step, turn_.

 

“Kai.  You’re going to wear a hole into the floor,” Sosuke said.

 

“ _Don’t you talk to me_ ,” Kai snarled back, face flushed with fury.

 

Sosuke didn’t speak again, and Kai continued to pace.  Until the doctor came and told them Emiko and his baby sister were alright.  The doctor brought Sosuke and Kai to see them, but Kai wouldn’t let Sosuke near her.  Threatened under his breath to turn Sosuke into an obakemono, and trap him in a jar.

 

Sosuke stayed back, eventually left.  They wouldn’t see him again.

 

Emiko named the girl Tsuki, after the moon, after luck.  “ _She is our lucky moon_.”


	6. Leap of Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Svorak's running - and Lady's suggestions really need more thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

Svorak didn’t know how they’d gotten themselves into this mess.  How could they be this _stupid_?  “ _Fuck, get out of there, Tiger!  Hurry up!_ ”  It was followed by the ominous sounds of the dark man’s pursuers shouting.

 

The voice in his ear wasn’t helping.  “Yeah,” he said, racing up the stairs.

 

“ _I’m upstairs.  Can you get to me?  We’ll face ‘em together... or something_.”  It was never a good thing when Christoph started to run out of ideas.  “ _The roof_.”

 

“Coming,” the dark man grunted, and fell silent until he slammed open the roof door.  The com crackled as Christoph’s pale visage came into view dead ahead.

 

The blond hurried over with a crowbar.  “ _Hey kiddos_.”  A familiar drawl, so knee-weakeningly welcome in his ear.

 

Svorak grabbed the crowbar and stuffed it through the door handle, and a half-broken padlock base.  “Hey Lady,” Christoph said quickly from behind him.

 

“ _East side of the roof.  Jump.  The river is plenty deep enough._ ”

 

“Are you _out_ of your _goddamn mind_!” Svorak burst out, feeling the blood drain from his face.

 

Even so, Christoph was already heading in the ordered direction.  Arana chuckled.  “ _Should I answer that now or after you guys get back?  It’s **only** the third floor_.”

 

“ _Only_ she says,” the ex-army merc growled, jogging after his lover.

 

“ _See you, kiddo_ ,” she said.

 

“Fuck.”  Svorak ripped out his earpiece and tossed it over the roof.

 

Christoph grabbed his shoulder briefly, giving a reassuring squeeze.  And then they jumped.


	7. Temptress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worshipping Arana is dangerous and thrilling. Drai loves to offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

Reddish brown eyes lifted from the book he was reading at a flicker of movement.  The book fell from his fingers as the door closed, and she smiled.  The lock clicked.

 

“Hello,” she said softly, dark eyes dancing.

 

Drai gulped, eyes slowly sweeping down, then up again.  Met chocolate eyes, and he smiled, slow and wicked.  “Hello, milady.”

 

The naked woman grinned fully, and stepped into his embrace halfway across the room.  She tilted her head back for a kiss, and who was he to deny her?

 

“Let me worship you, oh goddess,” he hissed in her ear wickedly.

 

The tempting siren pulled away.  “Wrong.”  And then she started taking off his pants.  Slowly.  Teasingly.  Movements lazy and small, eyes lifting to meet his.

 

The soft slide of fabric over flesh was the only noise in the room.  He hardly dared to breathe, eyes locked on hers.  He stepped out of the pants when prompted, and took several steps back.  His smirk was echoed on her face as she followed him to the chair.

 

She pushed him into it slowly, eyes dark.  Darker than they should be.  Understanding dawned as her hand slid up his thigh, tingling, and her teeth gleamed.  _Fuck_.

 

The immortal climbed into his lap, lips pressing to his, tongue darting out.  Tasting.  Testing.


	8. Christmas Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas with Arana. She loves to spoil her Boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

The early hours were always the hardest to wake up in. And the first Christmas the Boys spent in Arana’s vicinity was the worst.

Five AM, there was a loud thumping on their door, and Svorak actually fell out of bed, while Christoph groaned and covered his face with Svorak’s abandoned pillow. Outside the door, Arana was beaming widely. “Wake up, lads! It’s Christmas!”

“Ugh,” Svorak said eloquently from the floor.

“Go back to bed,” Christoph added, voice muffled.

There was a pause. “Alright! I’ll go start breakfast!”

The brief memory of the last hotel they’d stayed in drifted over both of them. Eventually, the fire department had managed to put out the flames. And now Arana was audibly padding away from the door.

“No!” Svorak yelped, scrambling up. However, his legs were somewhat tangled in the sheets (which had fallen off the bed with him) and he almost fell flat on his face. Almost. There was something to be said for mercenary reflexes. Mercs didn’t fall on their faces.

Christoph was already up and scrambling into clothing when Svorak managed to untangle himself and get up. Ergo, the blond ran from the room first. He tripped into the kitchen and paused. Eyes landed on the small table, then moved to the woman fussing with the coffee pot. Then focused on Drai, whom was sipping from a Dunkin Donuts cup. Then back to the table, where two large boxes of donuts rested.

Honey eyes narrowed at the woman when she gave him a knowing smirk. “That is playing dirty, Lady,” he said, pouting.

“Christmas,” she retorted.

“Holy crap,” came from somewhere behind him. “Chris- Arana, where’d you get all this?!”

  
The blond blinked and meandered back into the living room (which he had previously rushed through blindly). There was the tiny tree Arana had talked Svorak into getting last week, and then the empty stockings she’d bullied Christoph into buying. And the candy canes tucked into them that Drai had bought before she could ask.

And, beneath the tree, scattered over the coffee table, under it and around it, were dozens of presents. Most - that he could see - were addressed to Drai, Christoph and Svorak.

When had she gotten all of this? And where?

“Donuts?” Drai peeked into the living room, holding one of the boxes and smiling.

The darker male shook his head, staring at the mound with something almost like awe. “Geez, I haven’t had nearly this many presents since I was a kid,” he muttered. “And not even then. Lady, where are you?”

“Kitchen,” came her voice, sounding very amused.

“No donuts then. Oh well, more for me,” Drai said, then pouted when Svorak stole the box on his way in. “Damn.”

The blond wandered over to the presents, sitting down on the couch. He leaned forward and lifted one addressed to him. It was small, wrapped in metallic green paper, with a big bow on top. And enough tape to keep a mummy together. He grinned fondly. Apparently cooking wasn’t the only thing their Lady was bad at.

“No opening presents yet!” Arana yelped, rushing over to snatch it away and glare at him. “Not till after breakfast! Go get cleaned up. Go on, get up and go wash your face. You look like you just had a bitch fight with the sandman.”

The blond blinked, gave her an amused smile and obliged. “Yes, yes, of course, _mother_ ,” he drawled teasingly.

  
“No lip from you!” she yelled after him, but there was laughter in her voice.

When he returned from the bathroom, he noted with amusement that Svorak had managed to escape the same treatment and was smirking at an irritated Arana. Drai was sparkling almost, thus the lack of Arana-sized wrath upon his head.

“You should take a picture, it lasts longer,” Svorak drawled after a beat.

Arana shook her fist at him before snatching the donuts out of his hands. He let her. Huffing, she set it back on the table and forced everyone to drink some orange juice before leading the procession into the living room.

She stole the comfortable chair. “Alright, you can open ‘em now,” she said, sipping her cup of coffee.

“Shall we take turns, mother?” Drai asked sweetly.

The glare she leveled at him didn’t appear to affect him very much. Christoph chuckled and picked up the present she’d stolen from him earlier. The other two quickly followed his example, and soon enough the men were poking through the pile, making a mess with the paper, and cursing over the stupid amount of tape. (Svorak eventually gave up and got out his pocket knife)

Half an hour passed in no time. Drai pulled a stunt with one of his presents, sniffing it, feeling it and shaking it, and declared it socks. It was. After that, it became a game, with all of them trying to guess what the presents were before opening them, and in no time, Arana was laughing so hard she had to put down her coffee.

“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s a... sweatshirt. Yay!”

Finally, Svorak stopped. “Hm. Things seem to be a bit uneven here...”

His lover perked up, smiling widely. “You’re right! I should go get those...” He got up, beaming, and left.

Blinking as she watched him go, the brunette was wondering what was up. She turned to give her other boy a look. He just grinned and got up too. “You got any, Drai?”

“Mmhm.” The third male practically jogged from the room.

Minutes passed, and when they returned, they were holding a handful of presents, which they dropped in Arana’s lap. Her eyes widened slightly, then lifted. Svorak shrugged. “Didn’t think you were the only one being sneaky, did you? Now hurry up. We have ice skating in twenty minutes.”

The smile on her face made all the trouble worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear goddess, they are whipped...


	9. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arana is sometimes hard to love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

_“So the stars will rain, and the clouds dry up; the sun will fade, and the earth become a husk.  Yet I will still remain.  Unchanging.  Unaltered.  Forever_.”

 

Those were the words that his teacher said to him, that day in the park.  When the little girl, the fairy, had taken one look at her and fled in terror.  Arana had told him that she was cursed, to die constantly forever.

 

It made Sven feel hollow, sometimes, just to think about it.  His chest felt tight.  His eyes burned oddly.  His heart was heavy.  How he could feel sorry for the woman - who was, evidently, a worse monster than any he had encountered in his time training with her - he didn’t know.

 

Though maybe that made sense too.  She was his _teacher_.  She had helped him discover his magic.  Helped him save Elly.  How should he feel?  How could he hate her?  He couldn’t.  Wouldn’t.

 

She was Arana, and a tiny part of him loved her for it.  Even if-

 

“ _Kiddo_!” a familiar voice yelled right in his ear, before the odd brunette smacked him with a rolled-up newspaper.

 

“God-DAMN, YOU DAMN WOMAN!” he yelled, ducking another swat.

 

Dark eyes were focused on his face, that expression there that said she had done that on purpose, to drag him from his melancholy.  It was the look of an old woman, incongruous on her youthful face.  But then it was gone.  “Watch your tone with me!” she yelled, face twisting with malice that quickly faded to tempered anger.

 

_Even if she’s a monster._


	10. Tomb Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeing ghosts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

Fingers brush lightly over the smooth marble, words freshly carved, dated not even a week.  There’s a sound behind her, and she turns, looks into a tired, weathered face.

 

“Come on,” he whispers, smiling faintly.  “I could use the company.  It’s cold out here.”

 

“You got soup?” she asks the other European.  “I like soup.”

 

“I know you do.”  He reaches out, grabs the youthful woman’s hand.  She allows him to lead her away.  He’s just over sixty, but he looks younger than that.  Has taken care of himself.  “I have soup, somewhere.”

 

“Kiddo...”  She stops, and when he looks at her, smiles sadly.  “Where’s your lover?”

 

Tawny eyes blink at her in bemusement.  “Ah... I’ve lost him.”

 

And with that, they walk away, leaving behind the headstone, and the memories.  She pretends to be dead.  He thinks about life.

 

And the marble speaks for both.

_Christoph_

_Best friend, lover, brother_


	11. The Feeding and Caring of Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arana and her eating habits. It's practically notorious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RP between authors. Skip if you don't like POV tennis.

"What the hell is that smell? Is Lady trying to cook again?" Svorak wrinkled his nose as he walked into the room.

Arana, half flopped over the table, grunted.  "If I wasn't so sore, I'd probably be upset," she mumbled against the crook of her elbow.

The dark-skinned man shrugged and sat down next to her. "So what happened to you?" he asked, draping his jacket over the back of his chair.

"Croc in the sewer," she said, still not moving from her slouch.  "Too lazy to go upstairs for the shower."

"Wait, you were taking a bath in the sewers?" Lips quirking, Svorak leaned away.

This time, she lifted her head just high enough to cut him a baleful look.  "Not on purpose.  It's complicated, and you probably wouldn't believe half of it."  Her head met the table again with a soft _thunk_.

"Was it chasing a spider or a bat?"

Arana huffed.  "The bloody hell are you on about?" she muttered, finally sitting up all the way.

Shaking his head, Svorak waved a hand. "Bad joke," he admitted. "What do you want for dinner? I'll cook while you tell the story."

Making a face, she scooted her chair back.  "How 'bout you cook while _I_ shower.  Then we can talk while we eat."  She shook her head as she stood.  Then paused.  "Where's Chris?"

"Goldie is out shopping for a new shoes. Sent me home to make sure you ate." Rising from the table, he smirked at her expression. "You need keepers, deny it."

Instead, she stuck her tongue out at him.  "I only forget every once in a while.  You two clearly blow it out of proportion."

Tugging open the fridge, he made a skeptical sound. "When was the last time you ate on your own?"

"Breakfast," she shot back immediately.   _I think.  Right?_

Snort. "Today? As in seven hours ago?"

The woman had made it to the threshold before stopping.  "Wait, what?" she asked, blinking back at him.  "No, it's only..."  Her eyes shifted to the microwave digital clock.   _Blink_.  "Wait, when did...?  What's the day again?"

Heaving a long sigh, Svorak began adjusting his dinner plans. "It's Thursday, Lady." Forget the pasta, he needed the steaks. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing; it was a good night for barbeque.

She gave him a perplexed look.  "How long was I off this time?  I could have sworn I was just here...  Dammit."  She shook her head and turned away.  "Back in a few."

"Do immortals suffer from Alzheimer's?" he asked the room, before shaking his head again. "You, Lady, are _so_ lucky Medic is in Mexico."

Ten minutes later, Arana returned in clean clothes, drying her hair with a grey towel as she walked.  "Thank you, kiddo."

Both hands bloody up to the wrist, Svorak shrugged. The chunks of beef were flipped over one more time in the bowl of spices before being dropped one by one onto a platter. "Pull the beers from the freezer and we'll call it even."

She smiled faintly and obliged, letting the damp towel hang on its own around her neck.  "Huh."

Head snapping around, Svorak peered at her. "Don't tell me you're going non-alcoholic on me!"

Caught in the act of setting the beers on the table, Arana grinned.  "No, not if you paid me.  What's the date again?"

Letting out a theatrical sigh of relief, Svorak leaned against the counter facing her. "Fourteenth. Goldie and I left three days ago to visit Medic."

Arana nodded slowly and sighed.  "Dates," she may have murmured as she picked up a beer.  "I think I'm gonna get out the good stuff after eating."  Because remembering was horrible.


	12. Jason Hendricks, son of Svorak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason looks for Svorak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discarded plunny.  
> Collaboration.  
> POV tennis - sorry.

“Hello.” A short, stocky, sweaty man in grey shirt, blue jeans, and sandals held out his hand. “I’m Jason.”

Blue eyes lift and focus on the man’s face, platinum brows furrowing faintly. “Jason?” the thin blonde echoes, and looks at his hand. Shrugging, she reaches out and takes it. “Clare.”

The smile that slides into place on Jason’s features, doesn’t quite fit properly. “Sorry to interrupt your evening like this, but I’m looking for someone. One of his friends said that he’d be here. Tall, dark, and handsome? Goes by the name of Svorak.”

Clare cracks a grin that would look at home on a pimp. “Tall, dark and handsome? Yeah, I’m looking for one of those too.” She shrugs, amused. “But haven’t found any yet.”

“Aah...” The smile drops away. Jason’s green eyes cut to the side, before returning to her blues. “Then, perhaps tall, blond, and...” For a moment, he pauses, thinking, coughs once. “Cultured? um, his name would be Christoph.”

“Are you working for the government?” Clare asks instead of answering, regarding Jason with a very suspicious frown.

The man on the doorstep gives her a guilty uncomfortable look. “Child services, actually,” he answers finally. “We just took custody of a small boy. Mother claims Svorak is the father. She is...” Green eyes flinch. “... not able to care for the child. I was hoping to at least contact the father before letting the system progress further.”

Clare looks like she doesn’t like this answer. “Child services?” she replies skeptically, frowning. “Well if you’re lookin’ for them here, they’re probably in a different trailer.” She gestures around to indicate the vaguely not-well-kept trailer park around them. “I haven’t seen anyone ‘cultured’ here, or a tall dark and handsome guy. Hell, not even my best friend comes here. Try another house.” She moves to close the door.

Respecting her dismissal, the man steps back. “Of course. Thank you, Clare, for your assistance. Good night.” Jason turns and steps off the landing, one hand sweeping up to card fingers through shaggy brown hair. “Another dead end then?” he sighs as he walk to the next trailer.

The rest of the night proves fruitless once again. The diligent questioning of each home yielding the same result.

Frustrated and disappointed, Jason returned to his modest brown car and left the trailer park. He would take up the search again tomorrow morning.

xXx

When there’s a knock on his door, the man in the apartment paused, mid push-up. Heaving a sigh, he shoved himself upwards and opened the door. And looked down at the _much_ shorter male. Brushing choppy powder blue hair out of his face (it was dyed), Aoh Hari quirked a brow. “Can I help ya?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

“I hope so,” replied the stranger, a tired smile on his slightly red face. “My name is Jason Hendricks, Child Services. I’m looking for a Svorak…” Jason’s lips compressed and he looked a little embarrassed, “no last name. Do you by any chance know of him?”

But Aoh was already shaking his head. “No, I’m sorry. I haven’t. I’ve never heard of anyone with such an unusual name.”

The shorter man shifted slightly, smile faltering. “He’s tall, dark, blue eyes. Military like? Has a male friend that’s tall and blond.”

Hope faded as the sun behind Jason lowered in the sky.

“Um...” Aoh shrugged. “Well, what’s this blond’s name?”

“Christoph.” Another shamed cringe. “Also no known last name.”

Aoh winced. “I’m sorry, no. The only tall blond I know is the guy upstairs,” he said. “His name is Alex.”

Jason nodded wearily and made another rallying effort to bring back a smile. “Thank you, for your time.” He stepped back and looked down the hall, before facing Aoh again. “Have a good evening.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” Aoh Hari replied reluctantly. He offered an habitual short bow. “Good evening.” The door shut.

Shutting his eyes against the fierce orange light of the setting sun, Jason swung himself around to lean against the wall. He let himself sag for one moment.

A minute later, he was striding forward once more, heading for the stairs and the next floor. Maybe, maybe, one person (just _one_ person!), could have seen, perhaps heard, even if it was a vague recollection of dark skin and blue eyes...

Damn it, Svorak. Why is it so hard to find you?

xXx

Going door to door in the summer for the most part wasn’t a chore. Yes, this certain search was draining, and getting to the edges of desperate, but warm weather walks were actually nice.

When it was warm, and dry, and there was a soft breeze.

Not like tonight.

Especially not when he was stumbling over random cracks in the sidewalk.

The rain pounded down heavily, and whipped around in the wind, and there was the soft sound of laughter. Or rather, an amused chuckle. “Coffee? You look like shit,” a woman drawled from her perch in front of a hotel. She did not, in fact, appear to be daunted in the least bit by her own soaked status. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it.

For a second, Jason considered it. He was soaked to the skin. And those who did open their doors seemed to be torn between acknowledging his sorry state or ignoring it as blatantly as possible. Of course, there had still been no progress in his questioning.

 _I can’t stop. I can’t._ Dragging a cold hand across his features, Jason peered through the rain at the woman. “It depends,” he said with a stubborn smile. “Have you seen or heard of a man called Svorak?”

Brown brows lifted slowly. “It depends,” she echoed, voice flat, “on who’s asking.” She stood up from the low stone wall she’d been sitting on. “C’mon, then. Join us for some coffee.”

 _Hope springs eternal_. Jason squashed his for it seemed the hundredth time that day. He didn’t move. “Jason Hendricks. I’m with Child Services. Svorak’s a father. He may not know.”

 _I don’t have time to have coffee. What if the next person I go to is leaving town right now?_ The street was lined with hotels. Shuttles to the airport wove between late evening traffic. _I don’t have time to be misled. Or played with._

“Svorak? A father?” she asked incredulously, but actually paused a beat to consider it. “Hmph. Well, I could see it, I guess. Anyway, you look like a drowned rat, kiddo. Come in, talk with me, maybe have some coffee and if you can actually convince me that you’re social services, I _might_ consider calling Chris to let ‘em know.”

The world swayed. “You...” Gaping, Jason nearly stumbled as he took a step forward. “You know Christoph? And Svorak? You know...”

She knew them. Enough to have an opinion of his character. She knew Christoph. That they were travelling together, or at least in contact. She was capable of putting Jason in contact with _him_.

 _Dear spirits... Have I found them_?

Gulping once, Jason blinked wide green eyes at the woman. “Coffee...” he croaked, coughed, and tried again. “Coffee would be incredible. Thank you! Um, Miss?”

She paused, looking back as she had already started toward her hotel room. “Ya?”

A bright smile was on Jason’s face. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, apologies, how rude of me,” she said, turning back to face him. “Arana Bella.”

“Arana,” Jason repeated, committing the name to memory. Any help was treasured and remembered. The search had been so bleak... “I-- Just... Thank you!”

Years of searching... Years... And he had almost trudged right past her.

Her gaze softened. “Of course, kiddo. C’mon. I’ll get you a towel while we’re at it. You hungry?”

He shook his head giddily. “A towel would be appreciated, but I’m not hungry. Thank you.” No, his stomach was tied in knots, a strange mixture of excitement and nerves. Arana was his chance. And after so long, she could be his only chance.

She shrugged and lead him to the second floor, and into a sparse hotel room with an unused bed. “Sit,” she said, gesturing toward the tiny table in the corner with two chairs. “I’ll get you that coffee.” She stepped up to the sink only to lean left through a door and retrieve a towel. She twisted, tossed it at him and turned back toward a small coffee machine with maybe enough room in the carafe for two cups of coffee.

With shaking hands, Jason set the fluffy cloth down on the table and pulled off his raincoat. He stood there for a confused moment, casting his eyes about for a place to drop the soaked garment.

“Oh well,” he giggled, and left the bundle in a corner, saturating the thin beige carpet. _Oh spirits, I’m giddy_.

He wrapped the towel around his shoulders and collapsed into the chair, barely able to dim his grin.

She turned around as the coffee started to brew, and leaned against the counter the maker sat on. “So Jason, was it? Whaddya mean, he ‘may not know’?” she asked, dark eyes watching him closely like a creature under display. “I think he’d know if he did the deed with any chance of getting ‘er pregnant.”

Laughing weakly, the green-eyed man slumped further into his chair, scraping long bangs up and away. “It wasn’t supposed to happen, that I assure you.” Blowing out a breath, Jason shook his head and straightened. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say that.”

“It happened a very long time ago,” he began again. “I’m not sure he would remember, but the mother is--was adamant, that if she were unable to raise the child, then Svorak would be the one to take responsibility.” Jason sighed, old signs of pain flitting across his features. “Unfortunately, DNA testing is not possible yet, as there are no samples from the father. Which is why I have been searching for him. The child is... very special and I have--am emotionally invested in this search. I’ve been looking for Svorak since I started my career.”

“Uh huh,” she said, a single brow lifting. She glanced at the coffee pot and turned, pouring some into a styrofoam cup before bringing it to him. “Don’t really have any sweeteners or creamers, sorry.” She held it out, and continued after he’d taken it.

“So what happened to his mum?”

Jason cradled the cup in both hands, focusing on the murky liquid. “Deceased sadly. She was murdered in a home invasion. She managed to hide the child before they broke in.”

The brunette grimaced. “Hell... I’m sorry, hun,” she said, brow furrowing. She sighed and considered him for a moment. “And how long, exactly, have you been searching for him?”

“Years,” he said simply before taking a sip.

She huffed and tugged out a crinkled pack of cigarettes from her pocket before pausing. “You mind?” she asked, holding it up.

That same semi-hysterical laugh crackled through the room. “Sorry, sorry!” Jason smiled at her. “Go right on ahead.”

She nodded and stuck one between her lips, lighting it up before she tucked lighter and the pack away again. “Alright, so.” She pulled out the second chair and sat. “Let’s say I believe you and I call up angel-face and let him know what’s goin’ on,” she posed. “What are you planning on doing? Telling him he has a kid that he won’t remember makin’?”

A plan? The man rubbed a hand over his jaw and grinned. He had _fantasies_. Svorak meeting, understanding, accepting, loving, sharing a life together... An actual plan though?

“The usual thing that happens when a father or mother is found, I suppose,” he answered a little dazedly. “I’ve never had... Well, Svorak has been my only search since I started in CS, what, five years ago?”

He stared at Arana. “I would... I would tell him that there is a child that belongs to him. Ask if he would be willing to at least see the boy. Get to know him. Perhaps... if at all possible, accept the child.” Jason swallowed once, suddenly young and uncertain. “If Svorak cannot take the child in, then, at least, agree to visit...”

“And if he doesn’t agree to either?” she asked, frowning. She honestly had no clue how Tiger would react to this situation, but she didn’t want the poor boy to go in there hoping for ‘happily ever after’ only to get crushed under an acme ton bolt.

The young man blinked a few times and drew in a shuddering breath. “If that is the case, I will take the child.” He gave her a wry smile that trembled at the edges. “I have been searching this long, and I have no illusions about forcing acceptance. If Svorak chooses not take the child, I doubt any force on earth will be able to pin him down for child support.”

Arana grimaced. How true. “Alright, I’ll contact Chris. Wait here?” she asked, reluctantly. She would really rather not get into the middle of _this_ , but Fate seemed to be laughing at her right now. Again.

“Thank you,” he replied, subdued now. He took a bigger gulp of coffee and stared down at his knees.

She grabbed a cell off the night stand and dialed, slipping into the bathroom. She closed and locked the door behind her, switching on the fan, and put the phone to her ear. _Click_. “Baba. You busy right now?” she asked.

“ _Lady? No, not now_.” There was a swish and a clatter from his side. _“Is everything alright_?”

She chuckled. “Nothing life-threatening.” Pause. “Well, nothing that constitutes my blood outside of my body. Or anyone else’s, for that matter,” she corrected.

“ _Forgive me if I do not find that reassuring, Lady_ ,” the male drawled and then turned serious. “ _What’s the situation_?”

The brunette inhaled, and exhaled slowly. “It’s... it’s really out there, Baba. Like... _really_ out there. I’d consider making alien analogies if it wasn’t so weird to do so,” she said, mostly stalling so she might not have to actually say it.

“ _Lady_...” The blond on the other side sighed. “ _It doesn’t sound like an emergency, considering you’re not swearing. What is it?_ ”

“Well... a young man came to me... well, stumbled upon me, really, looking for Tiger.” She stopped, making a face. “About Tiger’s kid, but I’m leaning toward the opinion that it’s not by blood, considering the guy looks nothing like Tiger.”

“ _Wait_... Tiger? _A kid_?” was the incredulous reply. “ _Good Lord, Svorak_?!”

Arana smiled at the reaction. “Yeah, so he says.” She sighed, humor fading. “However... There’s just... something about the guy. I can’t put my finger on it, but whatever it is, it’s... unsettling. I mean, I believe what he’s said, but...”

There was a pause. “ _Do you want me there_? _Is he a danger_?”

She grunted, leaning against the bathroom door. “That’s the thing. I don’t think so. He doesn’t... it doesn’t _feel_ like he’s operating under bad intentions...” She sighed and shifted the phone to her other ear. “In any case, he’s asking to meet Svorak, and he isn’t admitting to being Svorak’s ‘child’. He’s claiming to be a social worker caring for the child.”

“ _Thus, allowing for a degree of separation. At least, from Tiger’s point of view_.” The tapping of a keyboard rattled over the line. “ _I can’t imagine him picking up small children, but seeing how we have taken in both Ruby and Wolf, a young protege would not surprise me. However, this boy is going through legal means as opposed to... well, our usual routes. Hmm, it would be interesting to meet, I think_.”

“I don’t think he knows what you do,” Arana replied, more of a confirmation of Chris’ likely thoughts than anything else. “Or at least is unbothered by it. And he’s tired. He’s been searching for Tiger for years... I would suggest a meeting, but...”

“ _You are uncertain of Tiger’s reaction_?” There was a sigh. “ _I believe that Svorak will accept another young one to train and guide. It’s the level of emotion that I share your doubts. He has never had an easy time accepting emotional bonds_.”

Arana sighed heavily, eyes roving over the lackluster, faded decor of her dingy hotel room bathing area. She mused that this was yet another spectacular occurrence in what she had begun to think of as ‘their everyday lives’. Somehow, someway, every time she and the Boys were within thinking distance of each other, some exciting new scene unfolded before their eyes. Or at least in their general vicinity.

“I know,” she mumbled after a long moment, reaching up to rub a hand over her face tiredly. “But I think the kid will take what he can get. Damn.” Where had her cigarette gone? Had she left it on the table out in the room? That would just figure.

“ _That desperate_ ,” the blond mused, then abruptly chuckled. “ _You realize, this may be the universe’s payback on Tiger for teasing you about meeting your own long lost family member_.”

She smirked. “Which reminds me; I’ll need to get pictures of his face.”

“ _Oh ho_?” Christoph’s voice was just as smug. _“I’ll do you one better. We do have video surveillance equipment_.”

She beamed at that. “Knew there was a reason you’re my favorite,” she teased, and chuckled. “Alright, dear, as fond as I am of conversing with you, if I let the kid mope any longer, he’ll melt a hole in the wall.” She shook her head. “Where are you?”

“ _In a layover hotel not far from the airport. Why_?”

She lifted a brow. “You on a job?”

There was a shuffling sound, a muffled moan, and the soft thud like a fridge door closing. “ _Not anymore_ ,” he replied cheerfully.

Arana’s expression fell into something like irritated amusement. “Right. Can you meet me the day after tomorrow for lunch? With the kid and Tiger, of course.”

“ _Am I calling in Tiger or are you_?” He had to talk a little louder over the sudden tearing sound of duct tape. “ _He’s probably done his own job by now_.”

“You do it,” she replied, grabbing her pack of cigarettes out of her pocket again. “I gotta get back to the Kid.”

“ _Right. Just let me know when and where, Lady. Take care and see you soon_.” That said, there was another sharp tearing sound and the call was disconnected.

“Hah,” she replied to the empty bathroom, and closed her phone. She stuffed it away, shut off fan and light, and stepped out. “Alright, kiddo, ready for the news?” she asked, face expressionless.

Across the room, Jason leapt to his feet, the twisted frayed mess of a former towel shoved into the chair behind him. He gulped before saying, “Yes.”

At the look on his face, Arana had a hard time keeping a straight face. A very hard time, but somehow she prevailed. “I spoke to Christoph...”

“ _And_?” Somehow, Jason failed to look ashamed at the way his voice cracked.

“And,” she paused here, frowning at him in a very stern manner for a beat, before her expression relaxed into a soft smile. “Lunch, the day after tomorrow. Chris’ll talk him around.”

Jason’s breath left him in a long sigh, and he collapsed back down into the chair. He gazed at his hands for a few heartbeats. “Lunch... He’s meeting me... for lunch...”

 _But he still didn’t know. There was so much to say_. And how could anyone understand? Jason could hardly credit the crazy story he would have to piece together for... for _him_ in two days.

Arana smiled brightly. “Until then, you’re welcome to stick around,” she said, lighting up. “I have cards. We can play poker.”

Blinking, the young man refocused on his surroundings. “Ah, no. I should go home...” He lurched to his feet, waving helplessly at his damp clothing. “Need fresh clothing. Need to shave. Need to...” Jason listed dangerously to the side before catching hold of the back of his chair. “Sleep. Definitely need sleep.”

Brows drawing together sharply, Arana pulled the cancer stick from her mouth. “Will ya get there without crashing into the ground?” she asked.

“Um, yes...” He snatched up his barely touched cup of coffee and drained the rest with barely a flinch at its cooled temperature. _Hotel coffee, black and cold_. Yeah, he could stay awake for half an hour.

Setting down the cup, he turned and gave Arana another smile. “I’ll be fine. I’ll come back tomorrow morning? Oh--” Spinning on his heel, Jason swooped down to dig through his coat pockets.

“My phone number is on there.” He held out a simple white and grey card.

“Sure,” she said blandly. “We’ll talk about time and place for lunch in the morning. Just come over as soon as you wake, kay?”

Nodding automatically, the man grinned. “Definitely. Thank you, Arana. Thank you!” Both of his hands came forward to grasp her hand, but hesitated. Jason gave her a helpless smile, and suddenly hugged her.

She blinked. And blinked. “Are you-” Stop. Sigh. “Kid...”

“Sorry! Sorry.” He instantly backed off, still grinning like a fool. “Just. Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And in a few seconds, he was out of the hotel room, making his way down the hall. For the first time in so long, he didn’t have to worry about missing a door. He was going to meet Svorak.

Unfortunately, the young man was in such a daze, that when he turned the corner at the end of the corridor, he nearly sprawled over a narrow table by the wall.

Laughing at himself, Jason amended that last thought. He was going to meet Svorak, but only if he didn’t kill himself in the next two days!

xXx

When Arana lead the Kid into the modest diner, there was a faint smirk present on her face. Of course, this might have had something to do with how very... _bubbly_ the Kid in question was about the whole deal.

She glanced around, recognized that her Boys weren’t there yet, and moved to the most defensible and private booth in the joint. Corner by the bathrooms. She smiled blandly at a bored waitress that took their drink orders and wandered off again, then looked at the kid. She had pointedly sat next to him, leaving the other booth seat for her Boys.

  
“Don’t get your hopes up,” she reminded him for like the seventh time. “There is _no_ telling how this will go, Jason. And stop bouncing. Bouncing makes him nervous.” Okay, well, probably not. But it made _her_ nervous.

“I’m not—” The bouncing stopped. “Sorry.”

“Hmph,” was the response, as the waitress approached with their drinks—coffee (for Arana), and OJ (for the Kid, because he didn’t need coffee right now and Arana hadn’t let him order any).

The bell jingled and she looked up, meeting honey eyes, and beamed.

Christoph was amused. Highly amused.

“There is no way that I messed up that bad. No fucking way,” growled a voice just behind him.

“Tiger...”

The dark-skinned man that was his partner sucked in a breath. “That him?”

Suppressing a snort, the blond shrugged. “The back of his head anyway, I presume.”

“He’s short.”

“ _Move,_ Svorak.”

Arana thumped the Kid’s arm as the couple came to a stop by them. She didn’t let him stand, and smiled. “Sit, please. Tiger, stop pouting. Order something. It’s on me.” She suppressed an amused grin as she met Chris’ gaze.

“I am not—” The pouting switched to sulking. “Shut up.”

“Tiger, just sit down,” Christoph cajoled. When his partner didn’t move, only glared down at the boy who was staring back, the blond switched tactics. “Of course, if you prefer standing, I’ll start telling everyone how long you took choosing a shirt before—”

Svorak slid into the booth across from the boy.

“—Aw.” He waved a hand at Lady. ‘I’ll tell you later,’ the tall blond mouthed as he took the last seat.

She snorted. “Well then.” She glanced toward the waitress, whom was flirting with the cook and hadn’t noticed the newcomers. “Svorak... Christoph... This is Jason.” She jerked her thumb distractedly to indicate the boy beside her, meanwhile glowering at a nearby ‘no smoking’ sign.

Svorak and the boy continued to stare at each other.

Rolling his eyes, Christoph leaned over to the other man. “Repeat after me: ‘Hello, Jason’.”

The boy’s eyebrows shot up as Svorak growled.

“Not quite there, Tiger. Try again,” the blond drawled.

“Jason.”

To his credit, Jason didn’t flinch at the tone. “Yes.”

“You don’t look like me.”

“I really don’t,” the pale boy agreed.

“But you’re saying, that I’m your dad.” Svorak’s single blue eye was narrowed down, brows puckered in a thunderous expression.

“Um... no.” Jason smirked.

Tilting his head, Christoph broke in. “Yes, you are his child, or no, you aren’t, Jason?”

Clear green eyes snapped over to Christoph’s honey-brown. “I am his child. He is my father.”

Arana, whom had been watching him boredly, sat back. “Explain in a little more detail, Kid, or you might lose your audience. I promised you’d meet him; didn’t say he’d stay, so talk fast.”

Now, Jason flinched. “You’re right. Sorry.” Focusing back on the dark man across from him, the boy clasped his hands on the table. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Brown brows lifted, and the witch turned slightly to look at him. “Are you serious?”

He kept his eyes on Svorak, but Jason still nodded. He noted the way that blue eye slid off to the side to where Arana sat. And he waited, because now, there was no going back.

“Oh don’t give me that look, it’s not like I invite it,” the brunette snapped, because the look he was giving her was just short of accusatory.

Svorak muttered something under his breath that had Jason biting down on another smirk. The man hadn’t changed at all.

“I have had enough experience with _that_ to believe. Yes,” the black man finally answered.

The young man let his held breath hiss out between his teeth. One hurdle. “I apologize, but no matter how I say this, it’s going to sound ridiculous, but...” Jason took another breath. “In a past life, you raised me. You were my father. And then you died.”

There was beat of silence during which Chris and Arana exchanged a loaded look.

“Are you fucking with me, boy?” Low and angry, and half a growl. Svorak leaned forwards to stare down the short kid on the other side.

“No.”

Then the waitress finally showed up.

Arana pursed her lips in annoyance, but asked for a refill on her mostly empty coffee while the Boys ordered. After she left, the brunette frowned at Jason.

“So. You remembered this? A dream or something?” she asked, eyes narrowed as she tried to figure him out.

Cutting his eyes from Svorak to her, Jason sent her half a smile. “I remember it as if I had lived it. The memory has always been with me.”

She huffed, mouth closing as the waitress returned with their drinks. Her fingers _tap, tap, tapped_ on the plasti-wood tabletop, and when the other female had left, she glared at him. “You’re lying,” she decided, annoyed. “Or not telling the whole truth. Same difference.”

“Lying?” The boy’s eyebrows swept down. “You think I’m lying?” He turned in his seat completely to face her, smile gone, congeniality washed away. “I doubt you want to hear my complete life story. Find the lie in this: in Svorak’s past life, he cared for me. From when I opened my eyes for the first time, till the day he died _in my arms_ , Svorak loved me as his son. And I loved him.”

Svorak himself made a half strangled sound, and Jason twisted around to pin the larger man with a frustrated glare. “I do not demand that you love me now, as if you had never stopped. I am not unreasonable. What I want...” And here he faltered. “I want to get to know you. Again. In this life, not just the last.”

The thought was familiar, voiced before, and Arana exhaled. _Well shit_. She looked up at Svorak, and offered him a faint smile and a shrug. Her opinion on the matter should be clear, regardless.

Pensive and surprised, Christoph watched the two other men. Jason had a fiery personality, very reactive. Svorak wasn’t that different. Personally, the blond would welcome the boy. There was an intensity to him, something that came from within. A drive.

Then again, apparently the boy had been searching for his dark partner for years. That took dedication. Especially for targets as elusive as they were. To mold and train someone with that amount of stamina, would create someone truly remarkable. But that was not his decision.

Jason saw the fast flicker of glances that shot over the table between the older adults. He watched as both Arana and Christoph eased back in their seats. The one man he wished to win over stayed rigid, face unreadable even to him.

The tableau stayed like that when the waitress returned with their food. The blond attempted to start a conversation, but neither the boy or his partner would respond.

Sighing, Christoph gave Lady a worried look over a bowl of soup. “Well, this is enjoyable.”

“Tch.” She glowered at the salad he’d ordered for her. “Yeah, enjoyable—what is this?” She tapped the plate. “I didn’t order this.”

The blond adopted an innocent expression. “Food.”

Beside him, Svorak snorted, then glanced down at the plate under his nose. And blinked. “Salad?”

Christoph took another spoonful of soup.

“Did I order gazpacho?” Jason asked from his side.

Arana was glowering at the blond delinquent. “You, sir... are a pain in the ass,” she huffed.

“What. The. Hell. Blondie.”

Blondie gave his partner an arch look. “Medic’s orders,” he said smugly, then cut his eyes at Jason. “If you want to live longer, eat healthier.”

“Bull-fucking-shit.” Svorak picked a cherry tomato out of the greens. “Fuck this. Move, Baba.”

Shooting his partner a neutral look, the blond slid from his seat. “Tiger...”

“Shut up.” The one-eyed merc stood beside the table and popped the tomato into his mouth, chewed, swallowed... “C’mon kid. We’re taking a walk.”

The brunette wordlessly slid out of the booth and stepped out of the way, brow furrowing.

Jason shuffled out to stand by his ‘father’. “Lead on.”

Reaching out, the merc slapped the kid on the back of his head. “Thank Lady for the lunch, even if Goldie had to hijack it.”

Stunned green eyes blinked at Arana. “Oh... Thank you, Arana—Lady? For... lunch.”

“Lady’s a nickname, but you’re welcome to call me it,” she said, smirking at him. “And you’re welcome. Apologies for baiting you, Kid.”

“Apology accepted and forgiven,” he responded quickly. “Thanks, again. Uh...”

Svorak had already started to march off.

“Christoph,” Jason waved, and then was gone, following after the dark mercenary.

Arana tilted her head as she watched them go. “Huh.” She turned, snatched the bread that came with Chris’ food, and took a bite. “So how are you?”

xXx

Several hours later, Svorak returned alone to the hotel room. He nodded to the other two sitting at the table, and staggered straight to the washroom without a word.

Christoph’s golden eyebrows rose at the sounds that followed. “That’s a lot of beer,” he noted.

Arana blinked, and shrugged. “Shame Drai isn’t here,” she mused distractedly, peering at her hand. “He makes that really good hangover tonic stuff. Y’know, the one that helps with an upset stomach too?” She smirked fondly and set down her hand—having promised not to cheat, she was losing like a tranq’d horse. “Damn.”

Smiling, the blond put down his own cards face down and quickly shuffled them back into the deck. “He never takes ‘cures’ for hangovers. Just suffers through. Though, by now he should know about _taking water while drunk_.” The last part, Christoph pitched loud enough to carry to the other side.

The toilet flushed and they could hear the intoxicated merc splash water around.

Snorting, Arana stretched her arms out above her head like a cat, gaze finally flickering toward the bathroom. She pouted faintly. “That reminds me...” And she was up on her feet, going to the small bag she’d dumped by the door after checking out of her own hotel. “Where is it...”

Taking another sip of his lemonade, Christoph continued to shuffle. “Do you think...” he began, but cut off as his partner entered the main room.

One bleary blue eye glared at him. “I drank the stupid water.”

“Well, good for you then,” the blond replied.

Svorak stood still at the bathroom door, glaring at Christoph. “It’s a fucking joke.”

“What is?”

“Jason.” The black merc trudged over to the queen-sized bed and fell face forward onto the comforter. “So fucked up.”

Arana, meanwhile, let out a victorious noise and pulled out the miniature bottle of dark liquid. “Sorry, what were you saying?” she said, straightening. She snatched a bottled water out of the fridge and walked over to the sink for one of the plastic cups there. She didn’t wait for an answer, filling the cup with water and putting a couple drops of the stuff in it.

The cup fizzed briefly, then settled quickly, the liquid darkening to an almost blood-red. She lifted it to peer at it in the light, and grunted. “Needs thyme.”

There was a muffled curse from the bed. “That’s what I told him. Sent him home to cool his heels.” Svorak slurred out. “Needed time to think.”

“Aah.” Christoph left his cards in favour of sitting down next to his partner, kneading a cool hand over knotted back muscles. “Was that before or after you hit the bar?”

“After.”

Arana hummed thoughtfully and set the cup down, returning to her bag, snatching it up and bringing it over to the sink. A brief shift through it, she pulled out a bottle of thyme and tapped a few leaves into the cup. Another fizzing, and the red darkened faintly. She smiled.

“Much better. Can I use your sink?” But she was already pulling the plug closed.

Puzzled, the blond looked over with a quirked brow, both hands now busy on dark skin. “Sure?” He tilted his head, clearly curious, but the drunk man on the bed let out a whimper of protest, and Christoph turned back to the impromptu massage.

She beamed at him over her shoulder as one hand twisted on the tap. She filled the sink bowl about halfway, then turned it off. “ ** _Mundare_**.” Somehow, the water seemed to clear even further than it already was, and she dumped the mixture in the cup into the water, tinting it medium red.

“ ** _Revelare virum quaerunt_**.”

A faint mist rose over the red-tinted water, crawling over the counter to either side of the sink. “Jason Hendricks,” she snapped. The mist retracted suddenly, as if sucked right back into the water.

However, instead of revealing a murky, red-toned picture of the boy as she had expected... White flashed, covering the entire room for a split second. Arana yelped and fell backwards, palm pressed against her forehead as she landed on the floor.

Over on the bed, the two mercs had scrambled off the bed and were now eying the windows. Or rather, Christoph had dove to the side, dragging his partner with him. Svorak was currently muttering epithets into the carpet between the mattress and the wallpaper, while the blond crouched over him.

“Lady?” The tall merc darted around the bed to kneel by her. “Are you alright?”

“What the hell was that?” Svorak demanded as he pulled himself up out of the tiny corner.

The brunette groaned, lifting her other hand to cover her face too. “Ow...” She gritted her teeth as she sat up. “Fuck. That was... an incredibly powerful cloaking spell. And a warding spell. And a fucking repellant spell. All rolled up together with a ‘back the fuck off, bitch’ for variety. _Ow._ Also, it blinded me. I can’t see a goddamn thing. Fucking _hell_ , owwww.”

“Oh, _Lady_.” Her favourite merc carefully hauled her up off the floor and sat her in a chair. “Water? Aspirin?”

There was a creak of springs as Svorak took the shortcut and climbed over the bed. “Not surprised she can’t see a thing. That was a good flash.”

“No, I’m _magically_ blinded,” she corrected with a pained grimace. “Sweety? Svorak? Your boy there? Might be telling the truth, or he might not be. I don’t _know_ , which is a first. What I do know is that the bastard is stronger than me. Strong enough that his passive spells got through my active and passive self-protections and magically injured me- and _yes_ , but get tylenol instead.”

“ _My_ boy?” The dark merc stood gaping down at her. “You can’t be... You’re serious?” He groaned. “You are.”

With a small shake of his head, Christoph dragged out the medical kit stashed under the table. A moment later, he pressed two white pills into Arana’s hand. “I’ll get the water,” he murmured and padded off towards the now unassuming sink.

“Thanks,” Arana muttered, dry swallowing the tablets. She closed her eyes and opened them again, but there was no change. Just a lack of perception. No color, nothing. _Oh, I hope this fades_ , she thought with dismay, and waved a hand in front of her own face. She had by now paled until she resembled a ghost.

She turned her head toward where she recalled Svorak’s voice being. “Al...” She cleared her throat after it creaked. “Alright, kiddo... give it to me straight... what do my eyes look like?”

“Fuck.... Well, you look like you have cataracts,” Svorak said slowly. “Pupils are bleach white, some of your irises too.”

“Is it temporary?” Christoph was back. “You’ve been able to heal back from everything else.” A cool glass of water was placed into her hand.

“No, this is a _magical_ injury,” she stressed again, voice cracking. “I’m _blind_... gods, I probably won’t even heal if I cut out my eyes...”

“And thank God for that,” the blond murmured. “Calm down first. Wait for the pain to recede. Then think about how to fix this. Do we...” Christoph trailed off, frown audible.

“Do I need to talk to Jason?” Svorak finished grimly.

“No, no,” she said, closing her eyes and biting down hard on her lip in an effort to calm herself. “No.” She drew a slow, deep breath and then sighed. “If I’m still... still blind in the morning, then... yeah...” She felt a sudden rush of dizziness, and nausea. “K-kiddo... trashcan.”

The plastic lined metal bucket was shoved under her nose.

The silence was tense while Lady emptied her stomach.

“You’ve got a magical son.”

If Christoph sounded unhappy, Svorak sounded thoroughly disgusted with his life. “Yeah, and right after he introduces himself, he goes and blinds Lady.”

“Not-” Pause as she gagged, and laughed self-deprecatingly. “Not his fault. I didn’t check... got careless... I’m sorry.” She pressed her forehead against the rim of the can briefly, then pushed it away. “I... really just need a shower. I’m sorry. I feel really... just... shower. Can I use your shower?”

“Of course,” Christoph answered immediately. “Come, I’ll help.” Placing a hand under her elbow, he waited for her to collect herself.

Arana inhaled slowly and let him help her up, and finally pushed away from him when she noted they were in the bathroom. “I’ve got it now... um, can you call... Drai please?” she asked, leaning against the door. “Just tell him when he’s done to come. Don’t let on that anything’s up, I don’t want him to get worried.”

Frowning, Christoph nodded. “I’ll get him here.” After one more worried look, the blond stepped out of the small bathroom and shut the door. Turning back to his partner, he let out a sigh. “Hopefully, she’ll be better in the morning.”

“If she isn’t,” the other merc muttered, scrubbing a hand through his short hair, “I’ll be talking to him a whole lot sooner than I thought.”

xXx

A tall man with long, dark-chocolate hair strode casually along the hotel hallway, a bag of McDonalds breakfast stuff tucked into his elbow. He wore a black T-shirt and a pair of slim blue-jeans that hugged close, as well as a pair of Doc Martins - also black. A dark brown hoody had been tied around his waist, as it’d been raining not so long ago, but no longer was.

He trailed to a stop before a door marked ‘202’ and shifted the keys in his hand to the one holding the bag before knocking. Then the hand lifted to brush his hair over his shoulder and out of the way.

“Yo, it’s me,” he called through when he heard a faint sound on the other side.

The lock tumbled over and the door swung open to reveal a very stressed Christoph. “Hi, come on in.” The blond turned and walked over to a table where Lady sat.

Drai stepped inside, nudging the door closed and locking it behind him, before turning to focus fully on the room. “Hey... Arana...?” Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly awake, if the impatient thunking of one finger on the table was any indication.

“Hello, Drai,” she answered stiffly, still not turning to look at him.

His gaze slid toward Christoph, brows lifting. “Uh... okay, I’ll bite. What happened?” But his lover just scoffed, obviously pissed.

For all that they tried to keep Lady safe and sound, Christoph thought mournfully. It was Svorak’s own son that hit her the hardest. “Lady, has been injured. Magically.”

Drai sighed and walked over to the table, plopping down in one of two chairs. “Well, at least your luck is still the same as always,” he commented, dropping the bag onto the table. “I brought breakfast. You want me to go out and get you coffee...?” But his eyes caught sight of the styrofoam cup near her elbow, from a gas station not far away. “Ah. Nevermind.”

Arana’s brow twitched. “I’m not hungry,” she replied.

“Arana...”

“No.”

Shaking his head, Christoph stood. “I’ll leave you two. I’ve got my own partner to find.” In swift movements, he slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys, and left.

“How did-”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she grated out.

“Arana,” he scolded, and when he received only silence, he grimaced. “Alright, at least tell me what happened.”

The brunette leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. Wordlessly, she opened her eyes, listening for an intake of breath that never came. “I got blinded.” Silence, and her brow furrowed. “Drai...?”

“Well shit,” he finally said. “If you didn’t see that, I believe you.” He smirked at her scowl, though he hadn’t actually done anything to her. “Alright, so. You’re blinded. You can’t heal?”

“I only heal quickly when the injury is life-threatening,” she replied flatly. “You know that.”

“Yeah, but I also know you have random, vaguely helpful spells,” he shot back. “Use one of those.”

“I tried; it didn’t work,” she said, and abruptly deflated. “God, I’ve just gotten careless.”

He picked up the bag of food and dumped it onto the table. “Seems like it, yeah,” he agreed unsympathetically. “So, you gonna mope about it? Or do something.”

She sneered. “You’re a fucking asshole, Drai Nehn.” But she knew he was right, so grimaced and reached out. Her fingers encountered the wrapper of a breakfast sandwich, and she picked it up. “Idiot.”

“Love you.”

“Shut up.”

xXx

“I can’t heal her.”

The mercenary he ached to call father pushed straight into his face and snarled, “Can’t or won’t?”

“Usually, the answer would be both.” Jason refused to flinch.

“Boy...”

“She was going to spy on me! In what world is that not an offence? I’m not saying that I wouldn’t help her if I could--and only because you ask me to... What the hell are you doing hanging around a witch?!”

“Hey! Don’t you fucking talk shit about her. Lady has come through for us so many times, I can’t even count them.”

“Yeah? How many of those times were situations of her own making?”

“...”

“Fa--Svorak, look, witches are cursed. Most of them anyway. Lots of them command powers, but very rarely do they ever ask. With them, it’s take take take. Oh they might offer some bits of other things, other people, to keep a balance, but--”

“I don’t fucking _care_. You hurt her.”

“And I’ve had witches hurt _me_. You know, I bet she didn’t even tell you what she was doing. Or would you have said, ‘Sure! Go ahead and spy on my son’?”

“No, but... I... Fuck. You didn’t have to have all those spells up!”

“What part of ‘witches hurt me’ did you not understand? I have those spells up for a reason! To prevent witches and other power-abusing sociopaths from finding me and hurting me again!”

“You look fine! You’re a magic user and you say you’ve been hurt, but you look damned healthy to me.”

“... I look _fine_? You... You’re belittling... Oh, that’s rich! You wanna know how they hurt me? You really want to know?”

“If that’s your only argument against Lady, then yes, I want to know!”

“They took you away from me!”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“You died protecting me. They got to you, and they killed you. Not because of anything you were, but because you were in their way.”

xXx

Pain seared white-hot through her body, stemming from the piece of shrapnel in her side. Pearly white teeth gritted, dainty fingers wrapping around the metal, and she noted distantly that it was a good thing she’d twisted. Otherwise the injury would have been fatal. Luckily, the bit of debris was small, and had been stopped by her bone.

She grunted as she jerked it out, even as Ember reached her. “Ow,” she breathed.

“Dollie?” Ember’s hand on her shoulder drew her attention up to that red-framed face. “It doesn’t look too bad... how deep?”

“Not deep enough to be fatal,” the blonde reported dutifully, and grimaced as she pressed her palm against the wound. “Uh, you have that medical pack?”

“Do you one better,” Ember said with a sigh. “We’re going to visit Medic.”

Large blue eyes blinked bemusedly at her. “Why?” she asked. “We barely know them. At all.”

“He’s in town.” Ember helped her climb to her feet, shrugging. “Anyway, I’ve had dealings with him before. He patched me up a while back, before we’d ever even heard of Baba and his group. It’s fine.”

“If you say so,” the blonde replied dubiously, and let her partner lead the way.

xXx

This deep into the night, the water under his feet looked black. The dockhands still working at this hour had noticed him, but after a few words, they left him alone to think.

Leaning back against a sodden wood piling, the black mercenary stared out over the quiet waters and went over what he knew.

He knew Lady. For years, he, Christoph, and later Drai, had tracked Lady down. She wasn’t loved by her employers. When on the job, she spilled blood like a janitor spread water. It _was_ the job. In no way in their profession could they ever be counted as the ‘good guys’ and Svorak was alright with that. The world was painted in shades of gray and stained in countless colours.

What Jason had said, in truth, hadn’t surprised him. If Lady was an example of a witch, then they loved their powers. They used any and every available resource for any of their needs. And if they wanted something, and just one life stood in the way, they wouldn’t hesitate.

Hell, that’s what being an assassin was about. If you wanted to have money, you got a job, took out the target, and get paid. Simple.

The ‘wards’ that were Jason’s protections weren’t even fatal. Crippling, but not life-endangering, which was the only reason why Svorak hadn’t shown up at the boy’s apartment with a cocked firearm.

As to the rest... He didn’t remember his past life. Not like Lady’s sister. Jason was still a stranger to him. Certain mannerisms were familiar, but only because they echoed Svorak’s with uncanny accuracy. He would have thought that if Lucy could remember Lady, then he should be able to remember brown hair and green eyes, but he didn’t.

That he had died at the hands of witches, well, that would explain his aversion to mystics, back when he didn’t know Lady. It was derision then though, not open hostility, not like how Jason now regarded Lady.

“Fuck,” he growled out. “My life is retarded.”

The chuckle at his back had him sighing.

His tall blond partner settled down next to him, shoes dangling beside Svorak’s bare toes. “Oh?”

“Yeah.”

And so the shorter merc proceeded to pour out all the things messed up with his current life, while cherishing the few that were just right.

xXx

“They’ve been gone a while...”

Drai looked up as he closed the door, pizza in hand. “Yeah? Who knows. You want me to-”

“No.” She sighed, rubbing her nose as she contemplated just leaving. But Svorak would probably yell at her if she didn’t wait for them to get back. “I need to find something... Well, I’ll need your help, anyway.”

  
“Find what?” He set the box down on the table and opened it, forcing her to take a piece.

She nibbled on it absently. “A book,” she said. “My predecessor's, to be more specific. It might have some answers... the Undertaker was pretty learned, even if he wasn’t particularly powerful. He had a lot of spells in that thing.”

The taller brunet sat down on the edge of the bed with his own piece of pizza. “Huh. Really? I mean, you still have it?”

“Of course,” she scoffed. “It’s hidden away, but...”

“But?” he echoed, brows lifting.

She frowned. “It’s in England.”

  1. He wasn’t sure what to say to that for a moment, before nodding. “Alright, we’ll go find it. Where in England?”



“My old home,” she said, giving up on the half-eaten pizza. She wasn’t really hungry, and the thought of going _back_... it didn’t help. “I still possess the deeds and all... it’s still mine.”

“I can go instead,” he offered gently, knowing she didn’t like the thought of going to that place. He knew those memories were the worst for her.

But she shook her head. “No, I need to. I have to return eventually, and... well, it’s best to make sure the Undertaker’s grave hasn’t been messed with while I was gone.”

Drai shrugged, not really catching onto her feelings about that. “Alright. We’ll leave in the morning.”

“Yeah...” However, she wasn’t listening as he continued talking about what they’d do. Her mind drifted to old memories, old heartaches, and a handsome, smiling face.

xXx

A pair of weary mercenaries trudged in through the door the next morning.

Drai looked up from where he was doing one last check over Arana’s bag, making sure she had everything, and quirked a brow at them.

The blond nodded, the black man waved. Then with far less care than normal, Christoph toed off his shoes and collapsed onto the sofa, head resting on the back, eyes closed. Svorak didn’t even bother with his footwear and was already taking up one corner of the couch.

There was a soft snort. “Well, sounds like you two had a rough night,” Arana drawled, exhaling a cloud of smoke. “What’s up?”

“A very long day searching for the lout, ending with several long hours of listening,” Christoph replied sounding exhausted. “Has there been any improvements with your sight?”

There was a very long pause before Drai rolled his eyes and answered for her. “Nope, and we’re leaving in an hour.”

“Leaving?” croaked Svorak, twisting around to look at Lady straight on. “Where?” His voice was a scratchy hoarse mess.

“How long?” the blond tagged on his own question. He didn’t sound surprised, nor had he moved from his position on the sofa.

She stalled long enough to take another drag of her cigarette, and finally shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t know how long,” she muttered, eyes closed. “But there’s something I know of that might have the answer to heal my eyes, so I have to go find it...”

Drai walked back to her side, dropping the bag onto the table. “We’ll be back afterward.”

“We’ll probably be in another location if your trip is longer than a week,” Christoph responded. “But, you know how to get in contact.” With a short laugh, the tall man heaved himself off the cushions. “Alright, Lady, I’m demanding a hug before you disappear.”

She smirked and got up, setting the cigarette in an ashtray, before holding her arms out. “You’ll have to come to me, angel-face.”

As he stepped over and pulled the small woman into a tight hug, Svorak was getting to his feet as well.

“Drai,” he nodded to the slim Arab. “Don’t die.” And shook the grinning man’s hand.

“Ditto. We’ll let you know when we’re back in the States, sound good?” Drai said, retrieving his hand and sweeping up the bag.

Arana hugged the chemist back and smiled faintly. “Take care of that dummy of yours, eh?” she asked teasingly.

Snickering, the blond nodded. “As always.”

“Hey. The dummy is standing right here waiting _patiently_ for his turn. Get your hands off her already.”

Arana giggled and nudged Chris out of the way, reaching out for the ‘dummy’ in question. “Aww, I get hugs. You really know how to make a lady feel special,” she teased, hugging him tightly. “Good luck, dear. With everything.”

“Eh, I could do without some things, I think. You, Lady, are enough of a complication.” Despite his rough words though, Svorak wrapped his arms around her just as tightly. “You too, good luck.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and withdrew, letting Drai tug her past her Boys. “If we’re not back within a week, I’ll call to let you know we’re alright. Later, kiddos!” She waved.

Drai nodded in salutation and lead the temporarily blind Lady from the hotel room.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We may pick this up again. But not likely. This was really just to work out Jason's character before bringing him into the main story. Thus the laziness on the POVs.


	13. SPN AU Crossover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arana and Syd in college dorms. Still not normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes, the college/SPN plunny. It had to happen.  
> Collaboration.  
> I'm not going to put Dean and Sam in the tags because that would be misleading...

College _sucked_ , Arana decided.  Giant, slightly soggy, weepy donkey dick.

 

With a groan, the woman flopped down onto her bed, after dropping her pile of books and papers onto the end.  Her roommate had looked up with an arched brow from across the room, but Arana barely acknowledged Syd’s greeting, too busy having a mental pity party.

 

“It would be easier if you actually paid attention in class.” There was an excited edge to Syd’s voice. Jittery and chipped. And so _young_.

 

Arana sat up and narrowed her eyes at the other girl.  “...  what time are you leaving?”

 

Humming, the grinning blue-haired dye-happy pixie tapped her chin. “In about ten minutes.” Giggling, Syd spun in her chair and squealed. “Kai asked me out!”

 

“Well, about damn _time_ ,” the brunette declared dryly, shaking her head as she stretched out again.  “Where are you going?”

 

“I know right!” Snatching the phone off the desk, the happy girl scrolled down through the multitudes of texts. “PauPau’s Noodle House,” she announced, flashing Arana another wide smile. “Kai says they serve fantastic Malay dishes and I really want to try them. It’s been years since I’d been to Malaysia.”

 

“Never been myself,” Arana murmured thoughtfully, and propped herself up on her elbow to give the younger female a stern look.  “No funny stuff.  And get back before curfew young lady.”  But she couldn’t hold the expression, and grinned at Syd’s happy wriggle that made the chair squeak in protest.

 

Holding up her right hand, the chinese girl beamed at Arana. “I promise to be a model citizen and uphold the laws. No breaking of the rules.” She winked. “No promises about my date though!”

 

Snorting, Arana shook her head and rolled onto her stomach.  One hand reached out to snag open the drawer of her bedside table, and she reached in for her lucky bracelet.  “Here, hang onto this!  Because I don’t expect Kai to be a good boy, and you need all the luck you can get, girl.”

 

“Awww! You’re so sweet!” Syd reached out and carefully took the loan. “It’s beautiful,” she said, turning it in her hands before holding it out again. “Can you put it on me please? I’m not sure how that clasp works.”

 

Arana shifted onto her feet, stepping over, and did as asked with a tiny grin.   _Hah.  Eat this, you annoying emo brat_.  She dropped her hands as Syd retrieved her wrist, and grinned wider.  “It suits you.”

 

Her roommate couldn’t smile any wider.

 

Sitting down on her bed again, the brunette watched the younger woman get up and gather her things (phone, wallet, keys, etc).  “Tell him I said hi,” she added after a beat.

 

Coaxing the strap of her sandal through the buckle, Syd looked up grinning and nodded. “Of course. Oh, hey, do you want me to pick up anything for you on the way back? Snacks, drinks... McDonald’s fries?”

 

“Why is everyone in creation always trying to get me to eat,” Arana retorted good humoredly.  “Though, admittedly, McDonald’s fries do sound good.  And a Caramel frappe, while you’re at it.”

 

Syd laughed as she stood. “We want you to eat because you’re so damn skinny you make me feel hungry just looking at you.” Reaching out, she snagged Arana into a tight hug. “I’ll get you that frappe, you caffeine addict.”

 

“Thanks, Caffeine Supplier,” Arana retorted, poking her in the side as they parted.  “Have fun!”

 

Giving a little yip at the poke, Syd was so ticklish, the girl skipped out the door with a wave and a “Thanks!” And then there was peace.

 

Sighing, the witch got up and went to lock the door, only to hear a rattle behind her.  In alarm, she whipped around... and got blasted in the face with acrid-smelling smoke.

 

Then there was only darkness.

 

xXx

 

By the time they got back, it was far beyond anything that could be considered ‘curfew’, and they were both tipsy on a little wine and a lot of fun.  Also, Kai was being... well, _Kai_ , and thus grabby.

 

“You know, we should add some spice to our life,” he was saying with a snicker as he walked her to the door of her room.  Mostly, he planned on planting a big one on Syd right in their dorm room, in defiance of Arana’s silent threat.

 

Syd was swaying slightly, but she still had the presence of mind to pick up on his words. Chuckling, she shook her head at him. “The wine wasn’t enough for you?”

 

“Never,” he answered cheerfully, and sniffed.  “Huh.  You smell something?”  He stopped walking and let her go so she could unlock her room’s door.

 

Dropping the keys back in her bag, Syd shrugged. “Someone got egged?”

 

“I feel bad for their shower.”  The door opened before Syd could do it, and he blinked at Arana, who smiled at them widely.  “Uh... yo, Arana.”

 

“‘Yo’?  That’s the best you got?” she demanded, and held out a hand.  “I believe you were bringing me ‘get fatter’ stuff.”

 

Muffling her laughter, Syd rolled her eyes and reached into her huge purse and dragged out a travel mug. “Here you are gatekeeper,” she droned, offering the expensive beverage up with both hands. “May I come in now?”

 

Arana narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously.  “Where are my-”

 

Kai held up the bag of fries he’d been holding, and the brunette cheerfully moved out of their path after taking it.  “ _Grumpy old hag_ ,” he muttered under his breath in Japanese.

 

The only balm to his recent insult was that Syd pulled him into the room, happily chattering on about a book she was reading. The second of a series and that she would be delighted if he would read the first one. “And then tell me what you think. I’m not sure whether I should love it or hate it.”

 

Kai chuckled as he sat down on Syd’s desk chair, backwards while the girl skipped over to her bed to flop down.  He watched very closely until he realized that Arana was also staring at the Chinese woman.  Which wasn’t normally weird, until you took note of the intensity of her stare.  “Arana, you okay?” he asked, frowning faintly.

 

The brunette shifted those brown eyes to him, and she smiled.  “Yeah.  Sorry, just spacing out.  Guess I’m tired.”

 

“Oh shit!” That was from Syd. “I didn’t realize it was almost midnight!”

 

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo,” Arana drawled, smirking at her in that annoying old lady way she did.  “I’ve had all nighters- I’m a college student.”  She grinned.

 

Kai shook his head as he got up again, and stepped over to the edge of Syd’s bed.  “I gotta get back, before Erik decides I’m staying over and invites a few ‘lady friends’.”

 

“You stay over on the first date?” Syd’s eyebrows shot up. “Should I be re-thinking this?”

 

“No, Erik stays over on the first date, and thus that means that everyone else does it too, because that’s the way Erik thinks,” he responded dryly, exhausted just _thinking_ about his rather... eccentric roommate.

 

Giving him a sympathetic look, Syd chuckled and handed him a well-worn book. “Well, there’s the book. Uhm, I’ll give you a call tomorrow?”

 

He nodded, taking the book with a grin.  “Do I get a goodnight kiss?” he asked, flirtatiously blatant.  He politely ignored the eye rolling that their third wheel was doing.

 

“Sure!” Syd laughed and tugged him close, pressing their lips together in a chaste, if sloppy, kiss.

 

Just to piss Arana off (and, okay, maybe because he really wanted an excuse anyway), Kai deepened it eagerly.  He only pulled away when Arana cleared her throat in warning.

 

With a sense of smug accomplishment, he watched Syd blink her eyes open. It might have been the wine, but he was pretty sure she liked his kisses. He could always make sure...

 

“Oh, _come on_ ,” Arana growled when he went back in for seconds.  “Hello, does roommate mean nothing to you two?  I _will_ lock you in a closet, so help me.”

 

Kai broke the kiss only long enough to murmur, “Now _there’s_ an idea,” mischievously.

 

Unfortunately, when he leaned back towards Syd, she was laughing. “No, we’re not doing that and--Mmm... Hey! Off! You gotta go anyway.” Despite her words, she still left him with one last kiss on the side of his mouth as she pushed him away. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

 

“Good night, Sydney- _chan_ ,” he responded, and walked backwards out the door so he could look as long as possible.  As the door closed between them, he found himself musing about the eggs.

  
xXx

 

Kai barely had to knock before Syd was letting him in, and given the state of her... well, he wasn’t about to let on how worried he was too.  “How long’s she been gone?  Did you call the cops?” he asked as she shut the door behind him.

 

Brushing past him, she strode into the room, both hands running over her scalp. Her hair was still blue. “She was gone when I woke up yesterday. I thought maybe she had a study group or something. Sometimes, she leaves her books here,” Syd gestured at the pile of texts, “and mooches off someone else.” Turning again, she paced the length of the room. “But then she didn’t show up last night either.” She finally stopped walking, her face pinched and her eyes wide. “I called the cops this morning.”

 

He stepped over to her, arms wrapping around her.  “I’m sure she’s fine.  It’s Arana; she’s a tough little bitch,” he grumbled, running a hand soothingly over her back.

 

Despite his calm words, Syd was still stiff. “You think she’s in trouble?” she whispered, small hands clenching into his shirt. “What if she’s hurt? Or kidnapped? Or--”

 

Kai snorted.  “She’s not,” he deadpanned.  Well, she might be, but the point remained that it wouldn’t do anything to her.  “Arana pulls disappearing acts every once in a while.  She’ll show up without a scratch, and laugh her sarcastic ass off because we’re running around worrying about her when nothing’s actually wrong.  I mean, can’t you just picture that?’

 

“No,” Syd sniffled, then sighed. “Yes.” She buried her face into his shoulder. “But I still retain the right to worry until she shows up.”

 

“Of course,” he agreed, giving her a gentle squeeze.

  
xXx

 

The next day, there was a knock on the door.  When Syd opened it, she found two men in rather Men-in-Black-esque outfits.  They both held up FBI badges.  “Hello, ma’am,” the taller of the two said.  “I’m Agent Hamill, this is my partner, Agent Ford.  We’d like to ask you a few questions about your missing roommate.  A... Arana, was it?”

 

“Y-yes, that’s right.” She thought FBI were... older. These guys looked like they could have fit in with the seniors here. “Um, come in.” As she stepped back, she kept a hand in her pocket on a single smooth stone.

 

“Thank you very much, Miss...” Agent Ford drifted off, eyebrows rising.

 

Blinking at his empty smile, Sydney stepped further to the side to allow the other agent to walk in. “Sydney, Sydney Chang.”

 

The taller offered a warmer smile than his partner, even as he glanced around curiously.  “Can you tell us what exactly happened?  In your words?”

 

She closed the door and stood watching the two of them. They didn’t mean her harm, the wards would have flared, but why the feds? “There isn’t much to say. One night she was here, joking with me and my date, and the next morning she’s gone. She left everything here. Even her phone.”

 

“Is this unusual behavior for her?” he asked, shifting his weight slightly.

 

Syd shook her head. “No.” Well... “Maybe. I’ve only known her since September, but she’s never gone out two nights in a row without telling me. Kai though, my date, says that she’s disappeared before and shown up later.” And the two other older men that had shown up yesterday didn’t look happy that her roommie had vanished either. Kai had cursed a blue streak in Japanese when she told him about Christoph and Svorak.

 

Over at Arana’s dresser, Agent Ford looked up from the framed pictures. “And what is Kai’s relationship to Arana?”

 

“They’ve been friends for a while. At least a few years, I think.”

 

Hamill nodded thoughtfully.  “Um, well, I’ve got a few questions for you that might sound... well, strange.  But just bear with me, please,” he said, giving her another smile.  “Have you noticed anything odd around?  Cold spots, sulfur... strange noises in the night, or critters in the walls?”

 

“Um...” She didn’t actually want to bring it up, because she loved Arana and couldn’t think anything bad of her, and it might not have been her at all... “The morning that Arana was gone, I might be wrong, but I think someone went through my stuff.” She sat down on her bed and shrugged. “Sorry; I was kinda drunk that night.”

 

Hamill exchanged a look with Ford, brows furrowing.  “That’s alright, ma’am.  Um, was anything taken?  Did anything go missing when Arana disappeared?”

 

All her cash was still here, jewelry, even Arana’s bracelet. Though that was probably more because she didn’t know how to take it off. “No, everything is here.”

 

“Alright,” Hamill sighed, looking disappointed.  Probably from the lack of useable information.  “Can you tell us where we can find this Kai?  I want to ask him a few questions as well, get a better bearing on Arana’s personality.”

 

Ugh, she really wasn’t helpful, but at least she had called the authorities. Maybe Arana will forgive her for the fuss if, no, _when_ she came back. “Sure. He’s at work right now. His family owns a gym on the corner of Robson and Browns. I can call him if you want?”

 

Shaking his head, the agent smiled at her.  “No, it’s alright.  We’ll head over there ourselves.  Thank you for your help, Miss Chang.  We’ll let you know if we find anything...”  He tugged a card out of his pocket and held it out.  “And if you think of anything else, give us a call.”

 

“I hope I helped,” she murmured, accepting the card. This feeling of being completely useless was really getting to her. _When_ Arana showed up again, she was going to peg her with a tracking ward. Maybe three.

 

Over by the window, Ford straightened and turned, fingers rubbing together. “You helped, Sydney. Don’t worry about that.” He gave her a quick nod, and led the way to the door.

 

A couple seconds later, when the two feds were out and gone, Syd was pulling out her phone. Three rings, and Kai picked up.

 

“Good afternoon, Watanari Fitness.”

 

Smiling wryly, Syd reached over and locked her front door. “Hey Kai, it’s me. Hide the body bags, there’s a pair of feds coming over to talk about Arana.”

  
xXx

 

Sam didn’t like this guy.  There was something really strange about him that sent his hackles rising, and one glance at his brother told him that Dean was feeling it too.  However, that was all they had about the man, and he was being reasonable, polite and as straight-forward as possible, so Sam pushed the feeling away, to be gone over at a later time.

 

“Ah, sorry, Mr. Watanari, do you have a toilet I could use?” Sam asked, sheepishly.

 

Brown eyes shifted from Dean to Sam, then back again before meeting Sam’s eyes once more.  “The green door in the back of the room,” he said, waving a hand toward the corner beyond him.  “Don’t wander.”

 

Well that was cheery.  “Thanks,” Sam said, and went toward the room indicated.  He glanced back over his shoulder as Dean kept the man’s attention, and then tried the office door.  Blinds in place prevented him from peeking inside, and it was locked.  This guy had a serious thing for privacy.

 

Attempt at investigation thwarted, Sam glanced back at the two near the front again, caught Dean’s gaze briefly, and then used a credit card to get into the office.  He carefully closed the door behind him and pulled out a penlight.

 

Two minutes later, he finished his skim through everything - there was a locked drawer in the desk he didn’t have the time to break into - and stepped back out after checking to make sure Mr. Watanari was still distracted by Dean.

 

He went to the bathroom, closed himself inside and flushed the toilet.  After washing his hands, he went out to join Dean again.  “Sorry, lots of coffee,” he said sheepishly.

 

The Japanese man gave him a bland smile.  “It’s fine.”

 

“Mr Watanari was just telling me he smelled rotten eggs when he walked Miss Chang home to the dorm,” Dean said evenly. “Though, that could be any number of things.” _Riiight. In their world? Not likely._ “Well, that takes care of our questions for now. Is there anyone you can suggest we talk to that might have an idea of where she may have gone?”

 

“Not really, no,” Watanari said, shrugging.  “I can’t think of any reason for her to take off like that... she was supposed to be there, and she doesn’t normally...”  He paused, grimaced, and reworded.  “Well, she usually has a reason for going.  And she usually says goodbye first.”

 

That was a lot of uncertainty.  If Dean hadn’t found the sulfur in the girls’ room earlier, Sam would think this girl had just up and left.

 

“Point is,” the young man continued, “if I don’t know where she’s gone off to, it’s unlikely any of her other associates do either.”

 

Nodding, Dean reached into a pocket. “That takes care of our questions. Thank you for your time, Mr Watanari. If you think of anything,” he held out the card, “here is our contact information. Have a good day.”

 

Watanari frowned and took the card, then offered a slight bow.  “Thank you for looking into it.  Ah...  Agent Ford, before you go.”  He waited until Dean’s surprised gaze returned to his face- the elder Winchester had been turning to go.  “If you find her, practice caution.  Anything can happen.”

 

Sam nodded and they thanked the man and left.  “Talk about parting words.  What do you think he meant?” the younger brother asked as they climbed into the Impala.

 

“Maybe he watches TV shows where college kids are kidnapped and trained to be assassins for enemy governments,” Dean replied with a shrug. “Yeah, if only our luck was so good.”

 

“He didn’t _look_ like the kind of person to get weird ideas from TV,” Sam agreed, mildly.  “ _I_ think there’s more to this case than anyone’s letting on.  Miss Chang didn’t seem to be telling us everything, either.”

 

Dean snorted. “Wouldn’t be the first time. Well, Sammy, we’re just gonna have to do this the hard way,” he announced. “To the bar!”

  
...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We _may?_ continue this later...


	14. The Feeding and Caring of Lady 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again about Arana's eating. Or lack of. I did say it was notorious, didn't I?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Collaboration.

Smirking widely, Svorak lifted his eyebrows as the witch across from him shot him a glare. He shrugged with one shoulder before pointedly taking a huge bite of his burger. Arana was getting hell for her diet again, and he was _not_ joining the club.

 

“Don’t look at that idiot,” Alex snarled. “Half the time, he probably doesn’t even know what he puts into that black hole of his.” He pointed at the woman’s plate. “We’ve been here for half an hour already and you haven’t even touched the salad, nevermind the lasagna.” A cough from beside Svorak had the irate medic turning. “And _you_! What’s this I hear about you turning vegetarian?!”

 

Arana’s brow twitched.  “Can you not start this?  Again?” she said, apparently rather bad-tempered.  “Honestly, it’s like associating with very large children.”

 

Beside her, Drai snickered.  “She just called you fat, Svorak,” he said.

 

One wide blue eye blinked at Arana. Svorak sniffled. He put down the burger and cleared his throat. “I see. Well then, I guess I’ll just have to turn bulimic now.”

 

Medic didn’t bother vocalizing; just reached over behind Goldie and smacked the dark merc across his dome.

 

Svorak, of course, took the abuse like a soldier. “Ouch,” he said, and then accepted the fry that his lover handed him.

 

Arana, meanwhile, was pinching Drai’s cheek hard enough to make _him_ wince and beg for mercy.  When she released him, she turned to Svorak and frowned.  “You know very well that’s not what I meant.  I simply meant you’re all immature and I don’t know why I put up with you.”

 

“Because you’re worse?” Drai offered, rubbing his abused skin.  When her hand lifted, he actually flinched away.  “And gorgeous and wonderful and amazing, as well.”

 

“Idiot.”

 

“Unfortunately, he’s also accurate,” Medic growled. “ _Eat_.” Then he narrowed his eyes at the blond next to him who started to laugh. “What?”

 

His grin clearly showing behind his hand, the chemist pointed at the bowl of soup cooling on the table. “Hate to point this out to you, Alex, but you really should take your own advice.”

 

“Hah!” Arana crowed.  “Take that, grumpy face.”

 

“See?  What’d I say?  Worse,” Drai muttered, and shoved a piece of lettuce into Arana’s mouth.  She scowled at him but snatched it and ate it.

 

Across the table, the blond had shifted his attention from the red--and grumpy--expression on Alex to attend the guffawing mercenary on his right. _And who in this world would believe us blooded killers_? “Svorak... Tiger, _breathe_ , you idiot.”

 

“Too good... Worth it!” His partner gasped out, one hand braced against the table’s edge and the other pressed against his stomach. “And this is while completely sober!”

 

Looking up from his second spoonful of tepid soup, Medic snorted. “If you want us drunk again, make sure to invite that Jap fellow, Shinji. At least that’s one person I know who still respects me.”

 

“Don’t you mean, ‘can still scare the crap out of’?” Svorak tossed back. He leaned back from Medic’s reaching hand. “It’s true! Deny it!”

 

Arana shook her head.  “That doesn’t count, though.  He’s scared of me, too, if you’ll recall.”

 

“Well that’s because he thinks you’re a demon,” Drai answered, grinning.

 

“And it’s Medic who’s complaining we’re naughty children who won’t listen to him,” Svorak added. “The last thing he needs is a respectful child turning into a minion of the first.”

 

Goldie turned to frown at his partner. “And that connects... how?”

 

Svorak huffed and muttered something about recruitment purposes and enemy camps before chomping down on his neglected food.

  
xXx


	15. Christoph, meet Sven Russkov

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arana introduces Christoph to a student of hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Collaboration.

“See, there’s only so much a man can take,” Svorak began, nursing a whiskey, “and then apparently, there’s Lady.”

 

Raising his head up from where he was studying the gash across his lover’s thigh, Christoph was tempted to dose the man with something stronger. Tiger had been going on for a while now and was getting steadily depressing. “She’s _immortal_ , Tiger. And not without her own issues.”

 

The black man pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose.

 

“Maybe you should upgrade your field armour instead of whining,” Medic snapped as he walked into the room. He shooed the blond away and scowled at the bloody mess. “Idiot.”

 

Shaking his head, Christoph stood aside and brushed back his hair. The job had been successful, but Svorak had gotten hit by a knife. Sad or ironic, he had been trying to save Arana from another fatal wound. She was immortal, but she still felt pain, still died. She just had a tendency to get up again later.

 

Speaking of... the chemist patted his lover on the shoulder and left the kitchen, hunting down their fourth member. The television was on in the living room, so that’s where he went.

 

“Lady?”

 

The woman in question wasn’t actually watching the television, so much as listening to it.  She was draped along the couch, head resting on the arm, elbow crooked over her eyes.  At the sound of his voice, she hummed in acknowledgement but otherwise didn’t move.  “What is it, angel face?”

 

Walking up behind the couch, he knelt down, resting his chin on his crossed arms. Instead of looking at her, he kept his eyes on the screen. “Oh, nothing much. Tiger is grumbling right now, and when Medic gets into lecture mode, I don’t want to make the situation anymore embarrassing than it already is for him by being there.”

 

“Okay,” she said, softly.  Her phone went off, somewhere by her feet, so she sat up and picked it up off of the cushions.  “Hm.”  The number wasn’t familiar, or saved into the phone.  Carefully, she pressed send.  “Hello?”  A pause, and a strange expression drifted over her face.  “Where are you?  No, it’s not a problem.  Just stay there.  I’ll be there soon.  Yeah.  Bye.”  She hung up, and swung her feet over the edge of the couch.

 

Christoph watched her stand up, picking up her things as she went. “Need an escort?” he offered.

 

She didn’t even need to think about it.  “Yes.  Do you mind?”

 

Smiling now, the blond stood shaking his head. “Not at all. I’ll let the others know.” He paused at the hallway, looking back. “An hour you think?”

 

“Don’t give a time limit,” Arana answered.  “I don’t know how long this will take.”  A beat, as she considered.  “But warn them that we may be bringing back a guest or two.”

 

Christoph nodded and slipped down the hall. There was a murmur of voices and then a few sharp words from Medic. And then Blondie was returning. “Should I bring anything?”

 

She shrugged, staring out the window.  “I don’t care, but any weapons you have, keep hidden.  He’s paranoid, and not overly fond of people that carry.”  She turned away from the pane, and smiled at him.  “Not that he’d do anything to you, unless you did something first.  But still, best not to agitate him.”

 

The side of Christoph’s mouth tilted up. “I’ll be careful then.”

 

“Good.  Let’s go.”

 

xXx

 

The man they were going to see was waiting at the train stop in the nearest large city.  He was alone when they spotted him.

 

The man was young, early twenties.  He had short medium brown hair that looked like it’d been tousled many times by wind and agitated light brown fingers.  He wore a dark jacket - whether it was leather or a knock off was hard to tell at their distance - and jeans, with a black pack hanging off of one shoulder.

 

His back was to them, but Arana recognized him instantly.  She started through the crowds of people, and about twenty feet away, he turned.  Dark blue eyes peered through an annoyed expression.  His jacket was left open to reveal a black Linkin Park shirt, and his brown shoes were laced with black shoelaces.

 

“Arana,” he greeted when she was ten feet away, and then nearly stumbled when she all but tackled him in a hug.  “What the- woman, get off me!  What is _wrong_ with you?”

 

Laughing, Arana pulled back again, and grinned at him.  “What, are you allergic to hugs now?”

 

“Well.  No.  But... since when do you _hug_ people?” he demanded, looking confused.  He paused a beat to eye her more closely, and his expression shifted.  “You’re different.”

 

“Me?  Look at you.  You’re grown up.  Did you get taller?” she asked.

 

“Three inches,” he sighed out, and then glanced over her shoulder.  “Your friend?”

 

Arana turned.  “Oh right.  Christoph, this is Sven.  He’s a former student of mine.  Sven, this is Christoph.  A... friend.”

 

Catching the aghast expression on the younger man, the blond choked back a laugh. “Not a lover!” he hastened to add as he stepped forward and offered his hand. “Hello, Sven. Nice to meet you.”

 

The young man pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket and took Christoph’s.  “I know you’re not a lover,” he said.  “Just not used to Arana calling anyone ‘friend’.”  He withdrew his hand after a brief shake, and furrowed his brow.  “Or hanging out with people that don’t... well...”

 

“Have magic?” Arana offered cheerfully.  “Doll-face and I go back a bit.”

 

“Right,” the young man said, and cleared his throat.  “Well, nice to meet you.”

 

Nodding, Christoph stepped back and let Arana take the floor. Neither Svorak or Medic were thrilled about having a mysterious visitor, or two, but if the other possible was like Sven, it should be alright.

 

Arana was glancing around thoughtfully.  “Well?  Where is she?”

 

“In the bathroom,” Sven said calmly, though his expression flattened.  “She keeps insisting she’s fine, but she really hasn’t been since the Wraith.”

 

Arana sighed.  “Alright.  I’ll go get her.  You two hang out a bit.”  She didn’t wait for a response, and hurried off.

 

Sven sighed, stuffing his hands back into his pockets.  A beat passed.  Then, “She tell you why you guys are here?  Or just said ‘follow’ and left out the details?”

 

Tilting his head, the blond considered his impromptu companion. “Less, actually. But then, we’re used to the Lady being vague.”

 

Looking unsurprised, the young man nodded.  “My sister spent nearly twenty years haunted by a Wraith.  Arana and I managed to get rid of it, but...  Elly’s been sick since.  Not regular sick.  Magic sick.  Which is kind of horrible.”

 

“Is she getting better?”

 

Sven shook his head.  “No.  It wasn’t that bad for... a couple years.  But recently...”  He shifted.  “Well I called Arana to see if she could help.  She’s the most experienced witch I know.”

 

Humming, Christoph let that sink in as he scanned the crowd around them. “Anything we can do to help, we will give,” he said finally. Arana didn’t have many important people in her life. And if a few kids would make her life happier, well, it was better than a couple of mercenaries with questionable shelf-lives.

 

“It’s okay,” Sven said.  “I honestly was surprised that _she_ came.  The last time I saw her, she told me not to look for her.  And that if I did, I wouldn’t ever recover my memories.”  He shrugged.  “But thanks, anyway.”  He gave Christoph a faint smile, and turned to glance toward the bathrooms again.

 

Arana and a woman with many similarities to Sven were approaching.  Long brown hair, hazel eyes, light brown skin.  But there was a pallor to her, as if she might collapse at any time, despite walking on her own, and she looked... slightly dehydrated.

 

“Alright, we need to get her back to Medic,” the female witch announced, stopping with the other before the males.  “He can probably help her a little, while I figure out what’s wrong with her.”

 

“I told you I’m fine, just tired,” the other woman sighed, exasperated.  
  


“Fine my foot.  Shut your fool mouth up,” Arana scoffed.  “We’re getting you some water.  Are you able to keep food down?”

 

“Yes...”

 

“Most of the time,” Sven inserted, ignoring his sister’s dirty look.  “Elly, this is Christoph, Arana’s friend.  And this is my sister, Ellonah.”

 

The blond nodded to the girl. “Good evening, miss.”

 

Elly gave him a small smile.  “Hi.  Nice to meet you,” she said.

 

“Cool.  Let’s go,” Arana said, and started leading the way back out to her ridiculous stand-out red car.

 

On the way, the chemist leaned in close. “Two words, Lady: ‘Medic’ and ‘intravenous’.”

  
xXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Erm... I have no idea when we'll bring Sven into canon, but I've given a pretty hefty hint that he's applicable.


	16. Naruto AU Crossover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arana meets two nin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with Naruto AU.  
> Collaboration.

She meets them in a bar.  In the middle of a bar brawl.  They are impressively suited up in somehow typical pirate garb, and Arana hadn’t even _known_ this weird backwards world _had_ pirates, but she supposed… Everyone has thieves.

 

Regardless, the pirates are in the bar, and they are fighting with some thugs that are definitely, probably nuke nin.  One of the pirates has an eyepatch.  She’s disturbed to realize, after a while, that some of them are even kids- teenagers.  Some are skinny, some all muscle, all of them tanned by months at sea with scars all over.

 

Arana just sits and watches from the corner.  She’s smoking a cigarette and, okay, feels a bit like a weirdo sitting here enjoying the fight.  But whatever, she’s way too old to even care about being a creeper.

 

_Hm.  Muscles or scars… muscles or scars…_

 

One of the oil-slicked pirates pauses as a skinny blonde (and big busted) leans over and giggles in his ear. There’s a low murmur of encouragement as the man shoved a charging brute face first into a table without even shifting his attention from the girl.

 

“See, Tan-chan? I told you it would be fun!” his grinning partner said, leaning over to pat the defeated foe on the head. “This is the _best_ way to see what your border towns are like!”

 

The wiry pirate snorted and kicked a chair into the legs of a passing brawler. “Your advice is as bad as your code names, Kyuu.”

 

Huge blue eyes widened as Kyuu’s pink lips pouted, but Tan-chan only turned away, one hand reaching out for a discarded plate. Wrinkling her nose, Kyuu sighed. “You can’t honestly tell me you’d rather do paperwork…” And then she pounced on the nearest unfortunate thug, heels first.

 

In the corner, Arana winced and picked up her mug of what was probably the worst example of alcohol ever.  She sipped at it as another thug picked up a chair to go after the blonde.  Her companion was already handling it though.

 

 _Scars.  I think.  Scars have stories._  Arana liked stories.

 

And then, just when the fight seemed to be winding down, four slim figures in skin-tight black spandex slipped into the bar.

 

“Shit! Tan-chan!” the blonde screeched. “The gig is up! Run for it!”

 

On the other side of the bar, Tan shrugged one shoulder, knocked a guy out using a move that Arana could only think of as the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, and took a single step towards the nearest window. “Then we should be going,” he replied, cool as a hot hunk could be. “If we’re caught, you’re explaining _everything_ to Baki.”

 

“You traitor!” was the reply.

 

Arana couldn’t help herself.  As soon as the duo were out, and the fighting was renewed again (because- uh, thugs), she slipped out the door to follow them.  It… really wasn’t that hard.  Shamefully.  She found it kind of cute though.

 

Fortunately for her, Christoph’s always been way better at it than these two.

 

If it were Tan on his own, the pirate probably would have been able to blend into the shadows, shiny skin notwithstanding. Unfortunately for him, the cackling Kyuu was loud enough to draw the attention of the entire street.

 

“I can’t _wait_ to see your brother’s face!” Spinning on her heel, Kyuu skipped backwards facing Tan, a grin on her face and her hands tucked up between blonde pigtails. “I bet he’ll think twice about betting against me from now on!”

 

Tan’s broad shoulders rose and fell. “The night isn’t over yet,” he answered, thumbing over his shoulder, “and if we carry on like this, we _will_ lose the bet.”

 

Arana smiled a little.  It wasn’t like she was trying to hide (and these are ninjas, she knew that now, so it’s unlikely she’d be able to hide from them anyway).  She stopped bothering with the edge of the forest path and walked openly on the path itself.

 

The bright smile on Kyuu’s face didn’t dim at all as her blue eyes darted from her companion’s face to Arana’s and back again. “Oooo! Are you actually caring about the bet now?” She winked and waved at their tail. “I’m Kyuu, this is Tanu,” she called out slowing to a stand still, though still bouncing in her chunky platforms. “What’s your name?”

 

The brunette smiled a little more.  “Arana,” she answered, and bowed politely.  “It’s nice to meet you, Kyuu-san, Tanu-san.”

 

“Wow…” The blonde’s eyebrows had winged up. “Arana-san is as polite as Haku-chan…”

 

Tanu huffed, swatting the back of Kyuu’s blonde head. “And you’re as subtle as my brother’s pick up lines.”

 

“Hey! I helped him practice those!”

 

“I know. Where do you think I heard them?”

 

Arana snorted at the back and forth, redirecting the conversation.  “So.  What’s the bet?” she asked, curious despite herself.

 

Ignoring the delighted inane giggle that Kyuu produced, Tanu shrugged. “Go out, start trouble, get home, all while staying unrecognized. Right now, we’re fine. But if you follow us back home, it wouldn’t be hard to identify us. Not that I really care,” he paused to wince at the whine from Kyuu, “but it’s less troublesome if I play along.”

 

“Aww, don’t say that!” the blonde said, flinging tanned arms around his shoulders. “You’re starting to sound like your sister’s boyfriend.”

 

Tanu actually twitched. His shudder did nothing to dislodge the girl though. “He _is_ the genius.”

  
The older of the three of them let out a sigh.

xXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kyuu = Naruto  
> Tanu = Gaara
> 
> Just to be obvious about it.
> 
> And not planning to extend this, but who knows!


	17. Of Nymphs and Memory Spells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nymph falls for Svorak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Collaboration.

There was a little girl on the doorstep when Svorak pulled it open.  She smiled up at him and held out a daisy.  "Here you go!"  She hiccuped, and her skin turned green for a second.  Bright, lime green, all over, and then it went back to pale peach.  She blinked like nothing happened, still holding up the flower.

 

Svorak took two large steps back from the threshold and held up his hands. “Sorry, sweety. This ain’t my area and I’ve been told specifically not to take things from strangers.”

 

She started to pout, large green eyes filling with water.

 

Fortunately, before the waterworks started, Arana returned from getting more herbs for her stores.  She pulled up in her bright red Camaro, and climbed out, staring at them.  "Um, angel-face?  Why are you talking to a nymph?  And sweety, where did you come from??"

 

The nymph - apparently - twisted to beam at Arana, and poofed in a cloud of green smoke.  As Svorak started to cough, Arana groaned.  "Oh perfect."

 

“Eh?” The merc wiped the clinging pollen from his face and paused as his fingers touched something cool and soft. “What?” There was something light and very white over his forehead. “What?”

 

Amused, Arana pulled out a paper bag from the passengers side.  "It's cute.  She's got a crush!  Shame you play the wrong team."

 

Svorak gave her a pained look. “Lady, she couldn’t have been more than thirteen.” He prodded cautiously at the flowers on his head. “I thought you said the inside of the house was warded against unwelcomed gifts?”

 

"It's warded against bad intentions," she corrected as she mounted the steps.  She paused before him.  "And you're on the porch."

 

“Huh?” Well, shit. So he was. “I swear I stepped back.” He blinked down at Lady. “This is a “nice” gift then? What would have happened if I took the flower from her directly?”

 

She smiled and walked past him.  "She likely would have whisked you away to wed her in a besotted stupor, and you would never even protest.  Good thing you didn't take it.  I'd hate to have to rescue you."  She chuckled as they went down the front hall in the direction of her magic room (which was always sealed unless she or Kai needed it).

 

Svorak shook his head. “Why me?” He understood the chiseled look and the older man preference but… he was about as bland as a loaf of bread magically. “Granted, I don’t go around chopping down trees, but I don’t go out of my to hug them either.”

 

Lady shrugged, stopping before the door to her altar room.  She pressed one palm to its surface, and a moment later, opened the door without a problem.  "Who knows," she said, bringing the bag over to a cleared table in one corner.  "Maybe we'll learn eventually.  This might be interesting."

 

Crossing his arms, Svorak leaned against the doorframe. “Interesting,” he repeated, eyebrows rising. “I nearly get seduced out of my own house to be some magical hippy’s lovemate, and… Wait. She’s going to be hanging around, isn’t she?”

 

Though she had her back to him as she unloaded tons of herbs from the bag, he could hear the smile in her voice.  "Probably.  Would you give up after the first try?"

 

“You know I don’t.” He wrinkled his nose and pulled the ring of flowers off his head to examine them. “But I’m not a tree-teen. We’re not even going to be here for long.”

 

"Then hope she gives up before we leave."  She turned, holding a small tan packet, and walked over to him.  With a smile, she pressed it into his palm.  "Drink this as a tea daily, and it'll make you immune to magical suggestion of her sort," she instructed, eyes twinkling.  Clearly she found this hilarious.

 

There was something to her answer though… “What happens if she doesn’t give up after we leave?” he asked, curling his fingers around the sachet.

 

"Then it means she's the persistent sort and will follow you all over the Earth," she said with a laugh, and went back to sorting her herbs.  "If you have further questions, feel free to ask any time!"

 

“Urgh.” No, that would not be good. For one, he was nearly fifty; having a love sick pre-teen mooning after him would get him arrested. Worst still if he ended up following her. Lady would laugh until she was sick. And then probably kill the poor thing. “I’ll drink the tea,” he promised. “And I better tell Christoph. Not that he would take it poorly, but…” After so many years, what dignity he had left, he treasured.

 

She snorted but didn't say a thing as he left.

 

xXx

 

The next time he saw the nymph, she was sitting on the rail of the deck waiting for him. And he had to walk past her to get to the car.

 

Christoph had stopped just shy of three feet from her, head cocked and completely still. “Is this her, Tiger?”

 

“Yup, this is the one.” He came up to stand by his partner and watched as the little girl’s face lit up. “Can you understand me?”

 

She giggled and produced a red rose, holding it out to Svorak (and not appearing to notice Christoph at all).

 

Again, Svorak held up his hands.”I can’t accept any flowers,” he said, then added as her face fell, “nor any romantic gifts. I’m taken already, you see?” He reached out and looped an arm around Christoph’s waist. “Aren’t there… um… any nice aspen boys around?”

 

The nymph tilted her head and finally looked at the blond.  The rose shriveled away, and was replaced by a wreath of mistletoe and yellow carnations.  She hopped up onto the railing and placed it on Christoph's head, then with a flick of her hand, covered him in monkshood and marigold.  She giggled, kissed his cheek, and turned to offer Svorak another rose.

 

“Hmm…” Christoph blinked at the loosely woven cloak. “Now, I’m curious. But we both know that if you take that flower now, Lady will be very unhappy with both of us.”

 

Svorak sighed, and scratched the back of his head. “You know, I’m no good for you, right?” He stepped up to the beaming girl. “I’m flattered, but I’m going to have to say, thank you, but no.” He was careful to keep his hands behind his back.

 

She giggled and then threw her hands open wide, covering the porch in blooms and woven vinery of all sorts.  With another childish laugh, she disappeared.

 

For a moment, both mercs blinked down at the display. “She’d make a killing if she opened a flower shop,” Svorak said.

 

Christoph huffed a soft laugh. “She would indeed.”

 

The two traded a look.

 

“What are the chances that she’ll be terribly insulted if we just walked over all of this and left--”

 

“Svorak, a _human_ woman would skin you alive. You think a fae would be any different?”

 

Turning carefully, Svorak surveyed the sudden bowery. “Well… I can clear the floor of loose flowers, but those vines look like they’re rooted.”

 

“... Never mind a woman, _Medic_ is going to skin you.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“He has hay fever.”

 

“Oh shit.”

 

xXx

 

Naturally Shinji, the little shit, found it all hilarious.  "And she covered you in-"  He continued laughing hard enough his face was red, doubled over in his chair.

 

Arana was smiling as she poked at a bowl of spaghetti.  "She's jealous of Christoph, that's for certain."

 

“Was it the mistletoe?” Svorak asked, thinking back to the way it hooked and tangled with Christoph’s long hair. The deck was still curtained in vines. Though at night when the white flowers opened, it was pretty awesome.

 

Arana shook her head.  "Everything she draped him in.  All of it together basically boiled down to, 'you're my love rival and I don't like you'."  She picked up her tea to take a sip.  "The rest of it was an ode to her love for you."

 

Svorak blinked. “But she kissed him.” Evidently, flower girls played nice when it came to love. “So why did she switch from daisies to roses? I know what a red rose means. I’m not that dense.”

 

Over by the fridge, Christoph made a sudden coughing sound.

 

Arana smiled.  "She didn't have to worry about a rival then.  I think she wanted to seduce you slowly."

 

There was a crash from the front of the house suddenly, followed by Japanese cursing.  Shinji blinked, and they all watched Kai stalk into the room covered in bits of heather and little begonias.  Arana burst into delighted laughter, prompting a moody scowl from the young witch.

 

“What the fuck?” Svorak walked over and helped the kid pick off the crushed flowers. Apparently, he was the only one helping, but then, it was kind of his fault too. “So… does this mean she’s interested in him?” he asked hopefully.

 

Kai gave Arana an evil look, but she just smirked.  "Nope.  She just noticed he's a love sick puppy."

 

"Nevermind that.  Why is there a nymph on your porch waiting to ambush people with flora?" Kai demanded, brushing some heather out of his spiky hair.

 

Arana looked so smug.  "She's in love with Svorak."

 

The youth blinked up at the big man.  Paused.  "Er.  She knows he's..."  He made a vague gesture.  "Taken, right?"

 

Svorak huffed, satisfied with Kai’s answer. “Taken is right. I told her once Lady explained what was going on.” He pulled a rather snarled looking branch out from under Kai’s hoodie. “She’s not backing off though.”

 

"Tenacious little-" Kai muttered, but cut himself off.

 

The older witch snorted.  "There's one last thing we can try to get rid of her.  Aside from flat out killing her, of course."

 

The pang that went through Svorak’s chest highly suggested the alternative route. She was such a sweet thing, it wasn’t her fault that she just happened to fall for the wrong guy. “Hey, I’m open to non-fatalistic options,” he said immediately. “It’s not her fault.”

 

Both witches gave him the same flat look.  "I may have forgotten to mention this- she's probably closer to three hundred than thirteen," Arana muttered.

 

Svorak just stared at her as Christoph hummed thoughtfully. “Then, it’s likely she’s done this before,” the blond asked, eyes narrowing.

 

"It's possible," Kai agreed with a scowl.

 

Arana nodded.  "Anyway, as I was saying- Kai has a lovely talent for misdirection spells.  He can cast one on you.  Hopefully, when she can't find you, she'll go away."

 

Looking from one witch to the other, Svorak shrugged. “Sure. What do I need to do?”

 

Kai gave Arana a frown, but nodded.  "Altar room.  Arana, you got sage?"

 

Arana nodded, getting up and hurrying from the room.  Exhaling, Kai eyed Svorak up and down.  "Give me your earring."  He held out his hand.

 

Feeling a little uneasy, Svorak took out the earring and passed it over. “Don’t break that, okay? I got that from Blondie.”

 

There was a sigh behind him, and Christoph came up to rub his shoulders. “I can always get you another. I’d rather have you than a shiny stone.”

 

Kai ignored them, as he tended to do with romantic displays, and hurried to the altar room.  He directed Arana to light some sage, then gestured toward the carpet.  "Sit, Svorak-san."

 

“Right. Sure.” Svorak sat. And as he watched the mystics bustle around, he tried not to sneeze.

 

Kai brought his little wooden alter over to sit in front of Svorak, and set the earring down in front of him.  He held his hands out over the gemstone, and closed his eyes.  The room went dark slowly, until even the hall's light under the door was merely a faded color.

 

He began to chant softly in Latin, and the gem started to glow, lighting up the darkness with blue light.  After a few moments, when it was starting to blind them, he said one last phrase, and opened his eyes.  The gemstone faded back to its normal color.  "You can put it back on now."

 

Svorak took back the jewel and turned it over in his hands. “Huh, so, is it like a Klingon stealth cloak or something? Put it on, disappear off the radar?” He looked up, but Kai just ignored him. Right.

 

Shrugging, he slid the earring back in, feeling already much better. “Thanks, Kai, Lady.” They bustled around, putting out the smoke and tossing trade talk back and forth. Svorak rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Works done, go make dinner. Got the message, I’ll be down in the kitchen.” And he left the smoky room.

 

Downstairs, he found Christoph, already elbows deep in the fridge. “Well, if you’re taking care of it, then I guess I better test this, right?”

 

Christoph hummed and pulled some vegetables out from the crisper.

 

Svorak wrinkled his nose and headed for the front door. He knew he was delaying it, but he couldn’t help but think it would feel weird to have someone stare straight at you and not see you.

 

Half a minute later, he clearly didn’t have to worry about it at all.

 

“Oh, that failed spectacularly,” he muttered, unable to hold back the bemused smile as the nymph skipped up to him. “Hi there.”

 

She beamed, and hopped onto the railing to kiss his cheek in greeting.  "What happened to your eye?"  Her voice was childlike and breathy.

 

Svorak felt his eyebrows snap up. He had forgotten she could talk. “Eh. Had an argument with someone a few winters ago,” he said, thinking back to the snow that kicked up during the fight. “Didn’t go very well for either of us.” Worse for the other guy.

 

"You kill him too?"  She smiled.

 

 _Too?_ Svorak blinked. “I’m told yes. Though, I don’t remember actually doing it.” Other than being ambushed and then waking up hooked up to several machines, there wasn’t much he remembered. “Sorry if it offends you,” he added, “but most of the time, my job is to kill people.”

 

Another bright smile, and she nodded, then offered him a white rose.

 

The door opened, and Shinji walked out carrying a heavy looking box.  He stumbled around them, only to pause and blink at her.  "What are you doing here?"

 

She giggled and poofed away.

 

“Yeah, it didn’t work.” Svorak sighed as he waved away the cloud of pollen. Then checked his head… Yup, he had flowers again. “I’m gonna go talk to Kai, maybe the spell needs to be stronger.”

 

Looking bemused, Shinji shrugged.  "Freaky nymphs."  With that declaration, he headed for Kai's car.  

 

Svorak couldn’t agree more. From what he knew, Kai tended to overdo things, so for the nymph to see past the boy’s spell. “That’s one hell of a fae,” he muttered, thankful that she hadn’t pushed him to take the rose. Even if it was white this time.

 

Slipping back into the house, he found Lady coming down the stairs, still talking with Kai. “Hey, it didn’t work.” He looked at Kai and shrugged. “Round two?”

 

They walked past him as Arana laughed.  "There's such thing as a gross misuse of power, you know, kiddo."

 

Kai was smirking as they headed for the kitchen.  "Yeah, but... It was hilarious."

 

"Pity you didn't get a video of it..."

 

Their voices faded as they disappeared from sight, leaving Svorak standing there blinking.

 

“Uh oh.” Svorak spun around and half jogged down the hallway, fumbling with his earring as he went. “Hey, Blondie? I’ve got a question,” he called out as soon as the jewelry was out.

 

Christoph was at the stove, adding the same carrots and peppers to a pan. He didn’t look up.

 

“Christoph?”

 

No reaction.

 

Svorak frowned and dropped the earring onto the table, taking a few steps back. “Hey, what’s for dinner?”

 

Christoph continued on in his peaceful way.

 

Svorak growled and raked his fingers roughly over his scalp before stalking over and putting a hand on his partner’s shoulder. “Christoph!”

 

That got him nothing more than an absent shrug of the shoulder and Christoph tucking a strand of hair over his ear.

 

“Well… shit.” Svorak turned and snagged the phone off the wall. “What’s Medic’s number…. Fuck. Right. On the friggin wall, nimrod.” He punched the number in and waited for it to ring.

 

“Medic here. What did you idiots do this time?” The man’s impatient voice growled out.

 

Svorak nearly bit his tongue. “Medic, you hear me?”

 

“Yeah, I hear you. You new?”

 

He nearly dropped the phone. “It’s Svorak.”

 

“Uh huh. What are you calling me for?”

 

“... You don’t know who I am?” He slumped against the wall and stared at Christoph’s back.

 

Medic snorted. “Look kid. The world is a big place. Hate to shoot your ego, but you may not be the big shot you think you are.”

 

Svorak let out a laugh. Even to him it sounded strained. “Believe me, I know it.” He looked around, trying to think. “So--”

 

“Hey. If there isn’t anyone bleeding or otherwise imminently dying, I got shit I need to do over here,” Medic cut in.

 

Nice to know Medic didn’t cut slack on just him personally. “Nah. Just wanted to introduce myself. It’s good to be on a first name basis with a guy who’ll probably be wrist deep in my guts, right?”

 

Medic’s rough bark of laughter was a mediocre balm. “I like you, kid. See you around. Don’t die first.”

 

“You too.” Svorak answered before the line cut off.

 

He placed the phone back on the cradle and watched as the two witches and Shinji drifted into the kitchen. Probably brought in by the smell of stir fry.

 

Shinji laughed.  "You guys are assholes, you know.  Oh, that looks delicious, man.  Not like that crap Lady shoved down my thro-"

 

A fork slammed down into the wood between his fingers, prompting a girlish shriek from the Japanese hitman.  "Are you making fun of my cooking?!"

 

"No!  No, definitely not!" Shinji squeaked, as Kai laughed.

 

Moving on a whim, Svorak reached out and wrenched the fork up from the table and tossed it in the sink. “C’mon guys. Don’t embarrass me here.” Trained killers and two witches…

 

Although Arana was a bit too busy having fun with Shinji, and Christoph was finishing the food, Kai was looking at the sink.  He tilted his head.  "Huh."

 

Sitting back with a laugh, Arana looked at him.  "What?"

 

"Hm?  Oh just thinking...  It's probably nothing."  Kai was shaking his head, though obviously still troubled.  "Christoph-sama, is that yours?"  He tapped the table by Svorak's discarded earring.

 

“Hmm?” Blondie walked past Svorak bearing a steaming platter of teriyaki stir fry. Svorak lunged around him, just in time to see his honey brown eyes widen. “That is mine…” Christoph murmured, picking up the jewelry. “I’ve had it since… well for a long time.” He looked up and frowned. “But how did it get here?”

 

Svorak watched as Christoph rolled the sapphire around in his palm, heart rate rising. “You gotta remember me. C’mon man. The earring is still _warm_!”

 

Arana quirked a brow as Kai closed his eyes.  "Remember that stuff we cleaned up, Arana-shisho?"  He opened his eyes...  And looked right at Svorak.  "The question is- who are you?"

 

For a moment, Svorak froze up. Then he was laughing, grin stretching wide. “You can see me!” He whirled around and stared at Christoph. “Goldie, Blondie, babe. You see me yet? Tell me you can, _please_.”

 

And he could see the acknowledgement at least in Christoph’s eyes. But what hurt was the way the blond backed up quickly. A knife appearing between his long elegant fingers. “Yes, I see you.”

 

“Christoph…” Well shit. He turned back to Kai and Lady. “Can you undo the spell?”

 

Kai lifted a brow.  "Why can't you?"

 

"Use your eyes, idiot, he has a silver Aura," Arana scoffed, and Kai blinked, relaxing minutely.  "He's never done magic, or at least not in a while.  Are you cursed, kiddo?"

 

“Lady, all I know is that you told Kai to cast a spell on me to stop the nymph outside from knowing I was here. Something about misdirection.” Svorak looked from Lady to Kai and back again. “But I just went out there, and until Kai she’s the only one to see me.”

 

"The nymph?" Shinji asked.  "She _was_ on the porch earlier..."

 

Arana motioned to a chair.  "Sit, kiddo.  Is it possible you did this, Kai?"

 

Svorak sat, glancing up at Christoph before focusing on the witches again. The blond’s eyes were too flat with suspicion to look at for long. “If it helps,” he said, cringing, “I think the spell is on the earring too.”

 

Arana waved at Kai, who held a hand out wordlessly.  Christoph handed it over and Kai surveyed the gem.  "It was used to transfer a spell...  Not spelled itself.  But I have used gemstones a lot lately."

 

"So we did this.  What can be done to fix it, Kai?" Arana asked.

 

For the first time since Svorak had met the boy, Kai looked truly lost magically.  He didn't say a word, though, and before long, Shinji spoke up.  "Here's a question, then.  Who are you supposed to be?"

 

Giving Shinji a shrug, Svorak looked around at all the faces. “I’m a mercenary. Been around for a few decades. Met up with Baba,” Christoph blinked, “back about fourteen years ago. Met Lady, er Arana, four years ago, and we’ve been a group ever since.” He gazed at Christoph for a moment before focusing on Shinji. “My name is Svorak. I go by the tag name Tiger.” He shook his head. “My stuff should still be upstairs mixed in with Baba’s.”

 

“Excuse me?” Blondie broke in. “ _Why_ are your belongings in my room?”

 

Svorak closed his eyes and grit his teeth. Yeah, how does one explain that? “Let’s just say we work together.”

 

Shinji snickered, and Kai actually blushed.  Arana rolled her eyes.  "Kai, get started trying to figure out how to reverse it.  Doll-face, with me?"  She smiled at the blond and indicated the hall.

 

Svorak watched with a leaden feeling in his gut as Christoph took the earring back from Kai as the tall man stalked out after Lady. No backwards glance, no considering pause. Nope. Back to square one.

 

With a sigh, Svorak let his head fall back. “This is going to be fun,” he said to the ceiling. “Either this gets fixed as fast as it was screwed up--no offence Kai--or I’m going to be taking over the spare bedroom.”

 

"I have another question-"

 

Kai scoffed, got up and left.

 

Svorak listened to Shinji’s inane question. Then he sat up and looked the man in the eye. “It doesn’t happen without lube and a lot of finger stretching,” he said flatly. “I don’t recommend otherwise.” He stood up with a grunt. “Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go talk to someone who cares.”

 

Which was dramatic, even for him. But Svorak was feeling irritated and sour and sick of the prodding. And Christoph…

 

He walked out into the hall, trying to be as obvious as he could, and thankfully his… partner, still his partner, cut off what he was saying as Svorak passed the living room.

 

“Just going out to talk to the nymph,” Svorak said to Lady. “If you need me, I’ll be there.”

 

He nodded to the stiff man by the sofa and walked away.

 

There was something so wrong about breathing easier when there was a wall and a door between him and Goldie, but that’s how it was. And with Svorak out there, the nymph came trotting over with a wide smile.

 

He couldn’t help but try to echo the sentiment back. “Hey,” he said before she could say anything. “Can I trust you not to take advantage of me if I ask for a hug?”

 

The nymph tilted her head, then hugged him about the shoulders, floating a bit to do so off the railing.

 

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this,” Svorak mumbled into her hair as his arms circled her tiny waist, “but he doesn’t remember me. He… probably doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.” And he was going to ignore the hitch that last statement cost him. Ignore the constriction in his chest and throat. He was going to close his eyes for just a second. Just to bring his emotions back under control. “I’ve known him… for _so long_.”

 

Her tiny shoulders lowered, and she kissed his cheek.  "Love him lots, hm?"

 

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

 

And if this was how it was going to be from now on. If there was no going back and he’d have to go forward from here… Christoph was going to be nigh unattainable. Especially after Svorak had oh-so-delicately told him they were lovers.

 

She pulled back and hovered a beat, then dropped to the deck.  "Baba remember.  Svorak is special.  Baba is very..."  She grimaced.  "He love you too.  You should be with Neith, though!  Neith not forget."

 

Svorak chuckled, and brushed his thumb over her cheek. “Neith, hmm? That’s a nice name.” He didn’t turn as the door behind him opened and someone walked through. “And yeah, it’s nice to know you won’t forget me, thanks.”

 

"Get lost, baby doll," Arana said flatly.

 

The nymph glared but flickered away.  Arana sighed and circled the man, reaching up to touch his cheek.  "Don't go to her again.  She will take you.  They don't have a conscience like ours, and she won't hesitate to use this to her advantage."

 

Svorak chuckled and offered his hand with the thumb he had touched Neith’s skin with. “I’ll be more careful from now on,” he promised, feeling her cool fingers slide over his own. “It’s just… Yeah, that was a pretty dumb move.”

 

He could win back Christoph again. It wasn’t like he had forgotten himself the various steps and pitfalls that happened before. In a way, he knew Christoph better than the man himself.

 

“Would be stupid of me to give up now, wouldn’t it?” Svorak mused as he watched Lady study him.

 

She nodded and smiled at him.  "Sure it would, kiddo."

 

Svorak snorted. He could still hear the faint distance she kept with him, but that was fine. This was a lot easier than not being seen at all. “Has Baba given me permission to take my gear out of his room? That’s probably the best thing I can do for now.”

 

She nodded.  "Yeah, provided I go with you."

 

“Wouldn’t expect anything else.” Christoph was going to keep his distance for a while and Svorak knew better than to push that. “It’s a good thing we vacuumed that room just a few days ago.”

  
…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We may pick this up again. It's got some interesting ideas.


	18. The Pizza Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I want to tell you a story."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble by Lost.

I want to tell you a story.  It is a story I have thought about telling from the very beginning, back when rainbows were things of magic, and piles of mud could be anything from castles to pastries.  It is a story that I have had the potential to tell ever since I first dreamed- no, _hoped_ , that the world could be a better place than it was.

 

This story begins, I believe, seven months before the day my mother died.  The day itself was not of any significant importance.  It was a bit chilly out, but it wasn’t raining, and the sun wasn’t particularly bright or high in the sky.

 

No, the importance of that day is the series of events that happened then.  Beginning, I believe, with a phone call.  The phone call was from a pizza delivery boy to a man on the second floor, apartment three of the duplex house on Metrome Ave.  He was, of course, calling to confirm the delivery.

 

To anyone else, that would be the end of it.  However, the pizza delivery boy was not actually delivering a pizza.  He was delivering a message.  The message’s sender cannot yet be revealed, not at this moment in the story, but for now you may assume it is from Fate herselves.

 

The pizza delivery boy hung his phone up and waltzed up to the door, lifting his hand to knock.  A gun-shot rang out, and the boy - pizza box and all - tumbled back down the stairs.  For a moment, there was absolute silence.  Then, someone opened their door.

 

Following was long trail of whispered words, spread rumors and stifled, terrified excitement.  No one exited apartment three on the second floor of the duplex house on Metrome Ave.  Not through the front, the back or a window.

 

Eventually the police were to arrive, guns loaded and ready for a battle.  They discovered a body on the floor, and a single word written in the deceased’s blood on the wall, among dozens of unfamiliar symbols.

 

The word is ‘Guilt’.

 

Upon further inspection, they found that the man had cut himself open and written the word himself.  They inspected the pizza delivery boy, and noted that the same word was written on the pizza he carried.  ‘Guilt’.

 

However, it seemed to be a cleaned up case.  It was weird, but they had the murdered and the murderer dead on the scene.  There was nothing else to worry about.

 

My mother thought otherwise.  She was an investigator for the police department, technically termed a ‘detective’, and she kept looking into what was otherwise a closed case.  Her colleagues called her kooky, crazy, but she didn’t care.  The case just scared her so much.  It was so very strange.

 

Her search lead her on a mad chase through the streets of the city, through banks and libraries and the city records vault.  In the end, she went back to that apartment, and stared at the still-stained wall.

 

‘Guilt’.

 

A thought occurred to her as she stared at that single word.  As she compared it to the photo in her hand of the pizza.  Guilt.  Guilt for what?

 

That single question haunted her dreams for months.  She couldn’t eat, breathe without thinking about it.   _Guilt for what_?

 

The search brought her back to the apartment, and then to the cemetery.  Seven months had passed since the death of Mark Vincetti.  Seven months of clues upon clues but no answers.  She stood at that grave, staring down at the words, ‘ _Beloved brother, son and friend_.’

 

She found the order fascinating for some reason.  Brother first, then son.  She thought perhaps the man’s siblings liked him more than his mother.

 

There was a shift behind her, and a soft voice holding a smile.  “Anna Stratton?”

 

The world snapped into place.  Memory returned and agony revealed itself.  My mother understood all, suddenly.  She closed her eyes, but truthfully, she was smiling too.  “Hello... Liza.”  She could feel the soft, sharp press of a blade held in steady hands.

 

“Lucy.”  The blade was moved, and pressed higher- against the bone at the back of the neck.  “I wish we had more time.”

 

“I’m sorry, Liza.”

 

“It’s Arana now.  Liza died a long time ago,” the voice admitted.  She did not say ‘I forgive you’.  “How are you alive?”

 

A soft laugh followed this question, and Anna Stratton covered her chest with her arms, hugging herself.  “I have a daughter, Liza.  She’s my everything...  You’d like her.”  There was silence a beat, then a whispered, “Can you tell her how I died?”

 

Arana didn’t answer for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was sad.  “I will tell her.”

 

I’ll spare you the gruesome details of my mother’s death.  Instead, I will explain how Arana Bella came to me in my dreams and whispered these things to me.  How she told me that she was the sister of my mother’s previous incarnation.  A woman named Lucille Watson, with beautiful golden hair and wide cerulean eyes that could see into your very soul.

 

Lucille Watson was beloved by all, especially her sister.  Her murderous sister that damned herself to deliver even the briefest moments of happiness for Lucille.

 

How Arana’s actions resulted in their death, and the stillbirth of Lucille’s child.  The misfortune suffered by Arana through the years as she remained a static point in existence.

 

God, how I hate her.

 


	19. The Lady's Pirates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We've seen what Arana's like on Christmas, did you think Halloween would be any different?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a spoiler for PP in here, but not all that relevant.  
> Collaboration.

“This is _not_ an excuse to OD in sugar.”

“One word, Medic. Hallow-fucking-ween.”

“Oh fucking har har. You gonna look the part and be a pirate now?”

Svorak leaned against the door jamb and _grinned_. “Not just look it. I’m gonna empty out the stores of all their loot. There won’t be a single piece of candy left when I’m done. And then the parents will come crying…”

Rolling his eyes, Medic nodded along. “Right, that’s your grand evil plot. Monopoly of processed sugar and hard candies.” He shook his head and left the living room, throwing a comment over his shoulder. “If you get scurvy, I’m putting you on a vegetarian diet. Via tubes.”

Smirking, Svorak leaned back on the sofa, arms stretching out to either side of him. “I knew he loved me.”

Lady, who'd stormed off as soon as the words, 'no working this weekend' passed Medic's lips, stuck her head through the door. Her smile was a bit silly. "We should do a theme! I can magically enhance any costumes."

On Svorak’s left side, Christoph blinked. The couple traded glances. “What do you mean by _enhance_?” the blond asked, taking in the gob-smacked expression from Drai by the window.

"I mean enhance- is there more than one definition for that word?" She flailed in emphasis. "Drai-"

"Uh, no, I don't think-"

"What, suddenly you don't trust me?" she demanded crossly.

Drai, having no answer for that, heaved a sigh and walked over to stand beside her. "Okay, fine. I am at your service."

Smirking in amusement and no small amount of mischief, the witch muttered a spell. Before their eyes, Drai's ears pointed, and his pupils turned to cat-like slits. "Like this," she declared, then waved her hands, and he went back to normal, changes evaporating like mist.

“So if… say… and I’m not saying I _prefer_ this,” Svorak started, a shit-eating grin spreading from ear to ear, by his side, Christoph gave him a wary look, “if we put Goldie in a _dress…_?”

Arana's grin matched the one-eyed merc's. "I could of course give him breasts."

Drai choked and went green.

Christoph’s only reaction was to sigh and say, “No.”

“You don’t want a dress?” Svorak turned, brows raised. “So, what? A mini skirt and pasties?”

Arana looked amused, which was when her next unfortunate victim entered the room. "Shinji-kun!!!"

Shinji froze in place. "Oh shit, I have a date, bye!"

"Date?" She all but pounced the Japanese hitman. "You have a girlfriend? You should bring her over on All Hallows Eve. We're doing a theme."

Shinji looked distinctly trapped.

“The theme is gender bending, by the way.” Svorak was not helping. Which was when Ruby peeked around Shinji’s slight frame.

“I think I’ll skip,” she deadpanned. “I’d make a horrible boy.”

"You'd make an amazing boy, but he's lying, the theme is pirates," Arana said brightly.

Drai blinked. "Wait, so- basically who we are, just more thievery and sea fare?"

"Basically!"

The wistful sigh from Svorak went ignored.

Scoffing, Christoph gently shoved at his partner’s head. “You can ask Lady to _enhance_ me some other night when it won’t traumatize our friends.”

Caught in the middle of shoving Shinji further into the room, Ruby blinked. “I… “ She then shut her mouth and shoved Shinji again. “Pirates is a fun theme.” She seemed determined not to follow the previous line of thought. Painfully determined.

Arana brightened to have her on board. "I have just the outfit in mind for you, too! If you like it, that is." She looked at Shinji and poked him. "Bring her. I must meet your darling!"

"Wha- but no one said I had a d-darling!" he protested, eyes wide.

“Then bring your date,” Ruby told him, still not looking at the couple on the couch.

“I think you fried her brain,” Svorak told his partner.

Christoph winced. “Sorry.”

Shinji looked between them all and finally sighed. "Fine, fine, but no magic shit, and no mentions of murder around her, got it? She's normal! And innocent! And precious!" That declared, he stomped out of the room.

A beat passed. Drai grinned. "Oh my god, our pet idiot is in love!" he said delightedly.

Arana grinned back at him. "They grow up so fast..."

“Little wonder he’s so twitchy,” Svorak said. “He’s probably hiding _everything_ from her.”

Christoph hummed, leaning against Svorak’s side. “Somehow, I doubt any woman who finds Shinji interesting would be ‘normal’.”

"That's a valid point," Arana said thoughtfully.

Drai eyed her. "Focus on the costumes right now, dear."

"Oh yes, of course," she replied, but her mind was clearly elsewhere.

Glancing from Lady to Svorak, Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Are we going somewhere? It seems pointless to dress up and stay home.”

From the couch, Svorak coughed. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he admitted, glancing at Christoph. “Though… their _faces_.”

“Still a no, Tiger.”

Ruby looked pained. “So, _are_ we?”

Arana seemed seized by a sudden unholy glee. "Yes! Halloween bar crawl? Or maybe we can crash one of the doubtlessly numerous parties..."

Svorak laughed. “If you can make it so we don’t get cold we could have a lot of fun with this.”

“Public decency is still a thing,” Christoph murmured, even as an amused smile cross his lips.

Ruby made a pained noise. “Just let me know what you decide on. I’m going to warn Wolf.” And she disappeared down the hallway.

Cackling, Arana went for her room as well. Drai remained a beat. "I guess we should start thinking about costumes. I wonder if I can do a Vampirate..." He followed after her.

Nuzzling down on blond hair, Svorak smiled. “So… what kind of enhancements are we talking here? Cuz I gotta say, what you’ve got now is just _fine_.”

Christoph rolled his eyes.

xXx

Arana grinned as she finished the last adjustments to Lucy's hair. "You look fantastic."

"Thanks! And thanks for the hair help." Lucy beamed, and they both glanced over when there was a knock, followed by Ruby and Amaya stepping into the room mid argument.

“—not going to wear a skirt like _that_ ,” Ruby stated. “It hampers movement and you know it.”

"Well yes, that would be why I'm wearing this- oh, love." Amaya smiled and stepped up to Lucy, bending her backward in a kiss.

Arana grimaced and slipped around them, simple red skirt swishing across the floor. "Well even though you didn't like the dress, you look wonderful, kiddo," she said to Ruby with a smile.

Glancing down at her black leather pants, black boots, black shirt, black vest, Ruby snickered. She looked like a female version of the Dread Pirate Roberts. “Yeah, Wolf thinks the same.”

"I'm sure," was the dry response. Arana reached up to adjust the strap of her black corset, laced up over a plain white period shirt. "Well, if everyone is ready?" She glanced back at Amaya's outfit, similar to Ruby's, except with more white thrown in, and nodded in satisfaction. "We should go dazzle the boys."

Lucy twitched her red and white striped slitted skirt into place, slapping away Amaya's wandering hand, and grinned. "Also, candy!" Her shirt was also white, designed to cover only one shoulder though both arms, with a brown costume half-corset covering her middle. Her boots matched it.

“About time,” Ruby said, turning right around and slipping out of the room.

The others followed her, heading downstairs to find the men—sans Shinji—sitting around with beers, in a variety of pirate gear. Even Drai, whom looked a bit undead on top of it.

The latter whistled appreciatively upon their entrance to the living room, eying Arana first and foremost. "Damn. Check, please!"

She smacked his shoulder, but was smiling. "Shinji hasn't arrived yet?"

“If he’s got a death wish, he won’t be coming at all,” Svorak drawled as he fiddled with his eye patch.

Christoph glanced at Lady with a rueful smile and gently smack Svorak’s hand away. “He’s just a little late. His date apparently wasn’t too thrilled about the short notice.”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Arana blinked. "Since when does he ring?"

“He’s trying to act normal, remember?” Christoph responded as Wolf got up to answer the door.

The brunette followed curiously.

The pair standing on the doorstep wore actually matching outfits, Arana noticed right off.

She was in a delicate pale blue dress with a model pistol in its holster on her hip, the under dress white and somewhat ruffled. Her shoes were black, probably boots, though the skirt covered them, and she was tiny. The young woman would be lucky to reach 4'10", her shoulder length, curly platinum hair only adding to the image of a delicate little girl. Behind oval-framed glasses, warm blue eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile. She curtsied after they were let in, the door shut behind them. "Hello! Velvet Anthony, pleased to meet you finally!"

Arana's brows lifted high as she looked at Shinji, who scowled pointedly at her. She smothered a smirk and reached out to shake the girl's hand. "The pleasure is mine. I'm Arana Bella. This is Wolf here with us. If you'll join us in the kitchen, you can meet the rest of the crew."

Locking the door behind the pair, Wolf tipped his hat—a rather decent looking leather tricorne—to the girl and led the group to the kitchen. Even before they reached the end of the hallway, Arana could hear the teasing. Unfortunately, Velvet’s first impression of the group was the guys ganging up on the smallest member.

“What made you think you could pull off a rapier?” Christoph was asking, laughter lacing his voice.

“It goes with the character,” Ruby answered stiffly.

Svorak barked out a “Hah!” and continued with, “You’re better off with a poignard and a few dirks. You’re too tall for a foil.”

Ahead of them, Wolf huffed a near-silent sound of amusement. “I told you the daggers would work better,” he said as they entered the room. “The rapier is too awkward.”

Ruby was scowling ferociously. “I’ve practiced with foils before,” she protested. “Just because I’m short doesn’t mean I’m incapable.”

"True story," Velvet inserted sweetly, drawing the gazes. She waved. "It's nice to meet you all, I'm Velvet Anthony."

Drai grinned. "Hey, Ruby, she's as small as you!!" He squinted. "Smaller?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Velvet said, a brow lifting.

Across the kitchen by the deck door, Ruby crossed her arms. “Only if you can’t hit as hard as I can,” She took a good look at Velvet and barked out a laugh, “and it looks like you can.”

“Told you,” a green and gold clad Christoph murmured to Svorak, who only grunted.

Wolf shook his head and walked over to Ruby, hands up and smiling. “Hush, you. You’re being rude.”

Arana cleared her throat and gave Shinji a look. He blinked, and quickly ran through introductions. An amused Arana then suggested they get moving. "We have a party to crash somewhere!"

“It’s crazy, but I kinda wish Medic was here for this,” Svorak said to Christoph as they followed behind Arana.

Christoph laughed. “Only because he would have a conniption over the party food.”

“Nah, he’s a fun guy to have around drunk,” Wolf chimed in further back.

Lucy giggled. "He has a wonderful mouth..."

"What?!?" Amaya sputtered angrily, halting to spin around to face her lover. "What does that mean?!"

Blue eyes blinked. "His vernacular, of course. What did you think?" Despite her words, it was clear to everyone else that she was baiting her girlfriend.

Arana chuckled as Amaya's face turned red. "Who's riding with me??"

“Not us,” Svorak announced, one arm slinging around his blond partner’s waist.

As they clustered around the door, Ruby shrugged. “I’m fine with the backseat.” Beside her, Wolf seemed indifferent.

Arana smiled and looked to Shinji. He shook his head. "With you driving? Heck no. We're taking my motorcycle."

She rolled her eyes. "As you wish. C'mon kids, let's go!" She dragged Drai along toward her Camaro as the two kids trailed behind.

xXx

Taking a break to lean against the wall behind the buffet, Sydney took a long gulp of her only-slightly-alcoholic Red Bull. She eyed the crowd on the small dance floor and felt a pulse of accomplishment.

The turnout had been rather good: mostly young adults, though a few older couples had shown up too. The live band had shown up on time and now with the DJ taken over the sound system, the guys were mixing with their appreciative audience. So far Carl hadn’t had to step out from behind the bar, even Gary looked less like he was regretting the idea and acted like he was relaxed for once.

And even though it was half past ten, they still had enough food left over to feed a small army. Which was good, because according to Ruby’s text from fifteen minutes ago, her gang of miscreants were _starving_.

 _They should be showing up pretty soon too_. Syd finished off her can and tossed it into the nearby recycling bin. _Time to swap with Carl._

She liked Ruby’s group, but there was a good chance that they’d try to rope her into socializing. They were nice… but her official excuse was that she was on the clock tonight.

Ruby had said Kai wasn’t with them, but that only meant that he was probably here already.

Throttling down the urge to scan the floor again with intent, Syd threaded her way towards the bar, waving at her openly-grinning mentor. “Carl! Switch with me!”

He gave her a thumbs up as she slipped behind the bar. “Just got another order to put together and it’s all yours,” Carl said, tossing together mint leaves and a mojito mix. “Anything out there I need to know about?”

“Other than my cousin’s pirate crew coming to port any minute?” Syd scooted around Carl’s back to dump more ice into the sink. “Just standard fare.”

“Ah.” He twisted to the side and set down the concoction with a smile. “There you go, miss. Enjoy!”

Syd flashed a quick grin at a customer who caught her eye a few feet away as she washed her hands. “All good here?” she asked Carl, but he was already nodding.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna take a breather in the kitchen then I’ll patrol.” He waved over by the back booths where Gary was prowling. “Have fun!” he said and Syd yelped as he ruffled a dry hand through her gelled spikes.

Shaking her head, Syd turned to the patron who had caught her eye and gave a dramatic sigh. “Well? Did he mess up my hair?” she asked with a smile.

The guy just laughed and gave a negative, and soon Syd was lost in the rhythm of serving. It was pretty impressive how much she tunnel-visioned because by Ruby’s expression Syd had already welcomed and asked for her cousin’s order without even realizing who she was addressing.

“Oops! Sorry Rube.” Syd flashed her a more sincere grin and shrugged. “It’s getting a little busy.”

Ruby rolled her eyes while beside her Wolf grinned back. “Hey, that’s a good thing,” he said. Then looked over his shoulder. “Just letting you know, we have a disguised norm with us. The girl in light blue. She’s Shinji’s date.”

“She could be completely normal,” Ruby interjected, not looking like she believed herself. “But whatever. Everyone’s here but Svorak and Christoph. I think they stopped somewhere to get an actual meal.”

Syd shrugged, absently taking out a pair of pints and filling them up with the bar’s pumpkin stout. “That’s fine. The kitchen’s pretty ridiculous right now anyway.” She lid over the drinks and Wolf accepted the two beers, handing over a twenty.

“We’ll swing by later,” Ruby promised as the two ceded their spots to those waiting at their backs.

Syd grinned and waved and took the newcomer’s orders.

  
xXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [whistles] This has been sitting around for... almost a year?


End file.
